The pursuit of effective climate change mitigation strategies is driving research into geological carbon dioxide (CO₂) storage. The present work explores the interaction of CO₂ with carbonate rocks from the El Abra formation in the Tampico-Misantla basin, focusing on the comparative influence of organic matter (OM) content on mineralization processes, hypothesizing that variations in OM content significantly modulate the mineralization process affecting both the rate and type of carbonate formation. Expanding on a previous study, CO₂ is studied and injected under high-pressure (1350-2350 PSI) and high-temperature (60–110 °C) conditions into two contrasting samples: one with high OM content and another with low OM content. Structural, morphological, and physical adsorption changes were evaluated through Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) analyses. The findings indicate that the mineralogy of El Abra promotes secondary carbonate precipitation, with rock–fluid interactions significantly enhanced by brine presence. Samples with high OM exhibited a dramatic reduction in average particle size from 13 μm to 2 μm, along with the formation of metastable phases, such as vaterite—evidenced by XRD peak shifting and modifications in the FT-IR spectrum of carbonate bands. Meanwhile, low-OM samples showed an increase in particle size from 1.6 μm to between 3.26 and 4.12 μm, indicating predominant recrystallization. BET analysis confirmed a significant porosity enhancement in high-OM samples (up to 2.918 m²/g). Therefore, OM content plays a critical role in modulating both the rate and type of mineralization, potentially enhancing physical storage capacity in low-OM samples. These integrated findings demonstrate that OM critically governs calcite dissolution, secondary carbonate formation, and microstructural evolution, providing key insights for optimizing CO₂ storage in complex carbonate reservoirs.

Cellulose Nanocrystals (CNCs) have emerged as a sustainable bio-based nanomaterial with potential applications as a filler in polymer coatings. For this reason, the present study aimed to extract CNC from commercial microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) and evaluate its effect on structural, optical, moisture uptake, and acoustic attenuation properties of an automotive acrylic paint. CNC was extracted by alkaline peroxide pretreatment followed by acid hydrolysis and analyzed by Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron and transmission microscopies (SEM and TEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). CNCs exhibited a rod-like morphology from 100 to 356 nm and high crystallinity (63%). CLSM analyses demonstrated qualitative evidence of CNC distribution in the acrylic matrix. A relative water uptake study showed that low CNC contents slightly improved barrier properties, whereas those higher increased moisture absorption due to their hydrophilic nature. Acoustic testing indicated enhanced preliminary acoustic attenuation with increasing CNC content, evidenced by lower minimum pressure values. These results provide preliminary evidence that CNCs can serve as a bio-based filler for acrylic coating systems with potential relevance to automotive applications.