Magnetically Recyclable −SO₃^–-Coated Nanoparticles Promote Gas Storage via Forming Hydrates

Efficient gas enrichment approaches are of great importance for the storage and transportation of clean energy and the sequestration of carbon dioxide. Of special interest is the regulated gas hydrate-based method; however, its operation requires adequate additives to overcome the low-storage capacity issue. Thus, this method is not economically feasible or environmentally friendly. In this work, a novel recyclable hydrate promoter of copolystyrene-sodium styrenesulfonate@Fe3O4 (PNS) nanoparticles with an integrated core–shell structure was synthesized through emulsion polymerization. This was found to effectively reduce the induction time of methane hydrate formation by one-third compared with the widely used sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS); the corresponding gas storage capacity was also comparable, up to 155 v/v. In addition, the PNS nanoparticles showed a good performance in foam inhibition upon hydrate decomposition, which frequently occurred with the use of SDS and other surfactant-based promoters. In particular, the new promoters contributed to a more than 30% increase in CO2 storage capacity, coacting with the fine sediments that mimic a marine environment. This provided further possibilities of sequestering CO2 in the form a gas hydrate under the seafloor. The underlying mechanism was proposed to involve anchored surfactants on the surface and tiny channels between the nanoparticles that lead to rapid hydrate nucleation and controlled growth. The results showed that the integrated magnetically recovering nanoparticles developed in this study could improve the efficiency of gas storage by forming gas hydrates; the excellent recycling performance paved the way for solving the economic and environmental problems encountered in additive usage.