Carbon capture and storage (CCS) can reduce the CO₂ emissions associated with the use of fossil fuels, especially in the electricity generation sector. The capture of CO₂ with a regenerable solvent is considered a mature technology, due to its widespread use in industrial applications. To make this technology more economical for post-combustion capture, better solvent are needed which have lower regeneration energy demand and lower solvent loss- and corrosion rates. In this thesis an improved understanding of the interaction between amine structure and CO₂ capture properties was developed, as well as a few potential solvents for post-combustion CO₂ capture. This is expected to benefit the development of even better solvents for CO₂ capture in the future.

Primary and secondary amines react with CO₂ forming carbamate-species. The stability of these species depends, among others, on steric hindrance, carbon chain length and functional groups. This relation has been investigated using quantum mechanical calculations, resulting in a theoretical support for this relation.

Based on the theoretical and experimental work, new amine based solvent formulations were tested in a continuous flow pilot plant. Results showed a specific energy consumption that was 20-50% lower than that of MEA.