Low-Temperature Composite CO2 Sorbents Based on Amine-Containing Compounds

Abstract

The use of technologies based on combustion of carbon-containing fossil fuel leads to emission of large amounts of CO2, one of the main greenhouse gases, into the atmosphere. To reduce the CO2 level in the atmosphere, systems for CO2 sorption from various gas sources are being developed. The systems allowing the CO2 sorption and desorption at low temperatures (25–200°С) are of most interest. Most frequently, such systems are composite materials consisting of a porous support and a CO2 chemisorbent dispersed on it. Low-volatile amine-containing compounds are the most promising among organic chemisorbents. Classification of the amine-containing sorbents with respect to the preparation procedure is discussed. The procedures include impregnation, covalent grafting, and in situ polymerization on the support surface. The impregnation procedure is simple and cheap in implementation. The sorption characteristics of materials prepared by impregnation depend on the efficiency of the dispersion of the active component, which is determined by the characteristics of the support pore structure, in particular, by the ability of the pore surface for chemical or electrostatic interaction with the supported amine-containing compound. The covalent grafting is based on immobilization of alkoxyaminosilanes on the surface of porous silica materials. The supports for implementing this approach should contain a large amount of silanol groups on the surface and should have the pore size sufficient for the efficient transport of CO2 molecules to amino groups. The main drawback of the grafting method is low thickness of the amine-containing component layers obtained. In situ polymerization is used for preparing materials with high content of grafted functional groups. Provided that the blocking of support pores is excluded in the course of in situ polymerization, materials of this type exhibit the highest sorption capacity for CO2.