Abstract: Chemical absorption is currently the only technology for large-scale post-combustion CO₂ capture. However, its industrial application is limited due to lack of amine solvents with high performance. Structure-activity relationship of amine is revealed in this paper for amine solvent selection. Amines with one secondary amino group (NH), one hydroxyl group (OH), and chain length between 3 and 6 in the structure are screened for the high CO₂ absorption rate, high CO₂ absorption loading, low reaction heat, high desorption rate, low volatility and low viscosity. Experiments on CO₂ absorption, thermal desorption, and viscosity measurement are conducted. Water-lean solvent of ethylaminoethanol (EMEA)/N-methylpyrrolidone (NMP) is developed as a promising solvent for CO₂ capture with 30% higher CO₂ absorption rate, 60% higher CO₂ desorption rate, and 42% lower regeneration energy than 30% monoethanolamine (MEA). EMEA/NMP is a promising water-lean solvent to achieve low energy consumption and can be applied in CO₂ capture from coal-fired power plant flue gas.