Probing the Performance of a Ni–Ca–Ce Dual-Functional Material for Integrated CO2 Capture and Utilization from a Synthetic Flue Gas Approximating Industrial Composition

Confining CO2 emissions and accelerating toward a circular carbon economy demand process intensification strategies. This work evaluates integrated CO2 capture and catalytic conversion over a solid dual-functional material (DFM) in the presence of H2O and O2, approximating industrial compositions in a laboratory-scale fixed-bed reactor. CO2 from flue gas and its isothermal utilization with H2 are temporally separated by applying chemical looping with isolated steps driven by CaO and Ni. A ceria-modified DFM shows over 60% CO2 capture efficiency and 70% CO2 conversion with average space-time yields exceeding 850 kgCO2 m–3reactor h–1 and 300 kgCO m–3reactor h–1 at 973 K and 120 kPa. Increasing the H2 feed concentration during the CO2 utilization step steers the selectivity toward CH4. The material maintains its performance over 30 cycles using a synthetic flue gas containing CO2, O2, and H2O and 75 mol % H2 for the CO2 capture and utilization steps.