Sodium-doped lithium zirconate nano squares: synthesis, characterization and applications for CO₂ sequestration

Nano squares of sodium-doped lithium zirconate have been synthesized by a simple citrate based sol–gel method at room temperature in the presence of cetyl trimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as a surfactant. The structural and morphological properties were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) respectively. XRD analysis of sample calcined at 900 °C for 4 h shows the formation of monoclinic lithium zirconate phase. The TEM shows the interesting morphology of formation of nano squares of sodium doped lithium zirconate sample. The carbon dioxide sorption capacity was carried out by TGA analysis at different high temperatures. It is observed that the sample shows ~20 wt% carbon dioxide sorption at higher temperature (650 °C) within 20 min which are better than the known reports.