Optimal CO2 Sorption in Functionalized Mesoporous Silica
January 9, 2020
(Left) structure of SBA-15/PEI-50, mesoporous silica (grey) highly loaded with surface (blue) and volume (purple) PEI. (Right) Volume PEI exhibits voids (light dots) that expand above 75 °C. CO2 molecules (black C, red O) physisorb on mesopore surface and
Scientific Achievement
It was shown that the amount of CO2 captured in mesoporous silica (SBA-15) functionalized with polyethylenimine (PEI) is maximized at a temperature dependent on the amount of PEI; for SBA-15/PEI-50 the optimal temperature is 75 °C.
Significance and Impact
A better understanding of the mechanism of CO2 sorption in PEI functionalized mesoporous silica has been obtained, showing how to more efficiently apply these materials for carbon capture.
Research Details
- PEI loaded SBA-15 was characterized by standard methods as well as small angle neutron scattering (SANS).
- SANS was used to measure CO2 capture in-situ yielding the meso-structure and CO2 distribution as a function of temperature.
“Discovering Inherent Characteristics of Polyethylenimine-Functionalized Porous Materials for CO2 Capture,”
Rui Zhang, Xiaoxing Wang*, Shimin Liu*, Lilin He*, Chunshan Song, Xiao Jiang, and Tomasz P. Blach,
ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2019, 11, 40, 36515–36524
https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.9b08496
