A classical force field approach was used to characterize the solvation dynamics of high-density CO₂(g) by monoethanolamine (MEA) at the air-liquid interface. Intra- and intermolecular CO₂ and MEA potentials were parameterized according to the energetics calculated at the MP2 and BLYP-D2 levels of theory. The thermodynamic properties of CO₂ and MEA, such as heat capacity and melting point, were consistently predicted using this classical potential. An approximate interfacial simulation for CO₂(g)/MEA(l) was performed to monitor the depletion of the CO₂(g) phase, which was influenced by amino and hydroxyl groups of MEA. There are more intramolecular hydrogen bond interactions notably identified in the interfacial simulation than the case of bulk MEA(l) simulation. The hydroxyl group of MEA was found to more actively approach CO₂ and overpower the amino group to interact with CO₂ at the air-liquid interface. With artificially reducing the dipole moment of the hydroxyl group, CO₂-amino group interaction was enhanced and suppressed CO₂(g) depletion. The hydroxyl group of MEA was concluded to play dual but contradictory roles for CO₂ capture.
Keywords: CO2 capture; alcoholamine; dynamics; interface; molecular mechanics.