Coal fly ash and bottom ash low-cost feedstocks for CO₂ reduction using the adsorption and catalysis processes

Combustion of fossil fuels, industry and agriculture sectors are considered as the largest emitters of carbon dioxide. In fact, the emission of CO₂ greenhouse gas has been considerably intensified during the last two decades, resulting in global warming and inducing variety of adverse health effects on human and environment. Calling for effective and green feedstocks to remove CO₂, low–cost materials such as coal ashes “wastes–to–materials”, have been considered among the interesting candidates of CO₂ capture technologies. On the other hand, several techniques employing coal ashes as inorganic supports (e.g., catalytic reduction, photocatalysis, gas conversion, ceramic filter, gas scrubbing, adsorption, etc.) have been widely applied to reduce CO₂. These processes are among the most efficient solutions utilized by industrialists and scientists to produce clean energy from CO₂ and limit its continuous emission into the atmosphere. Herein, we review the recent trends and advancements in the applications of coal ashes including coal fly ash and bottom ash as low–cost wastes to reduce CO₂ concentration through adsorption and catalysis processes. The chemical routes of structural modification and characterization of coal ash–based feedstocks are discussed in details. The adsorption and catalytic performance of the coal ashes derivatives towards CO₂ selective reduction to CH₄ are also described. The main objective of this review is to highlight the excellent capacity of coal fly ash and bottom ash to capture and selective conversion of CO₂ to methane, with the aim of minimizing coal ashes disposal and their storage costs. From a practical view of point, the needs of developing new advanced technologies and recycling strategies might be urgent in the near future to efficient make use of coal ashes as new cleaner materials for CO₂ remediation purposes, which favourably affects the rate of global warming.