Tetraethylenepentamine-containing adsorbent with optimized amination efficiency based on grafted polyolefin microfibrous substrate for CO2 adsorption

Abstract

Preparation and optimization of tetraethylenepentamine (TEPA) content in polyethylene/polypropylene (PE/PP) grafted with poly(glycidyl methacrylate) (PGMA) adsorbent for CO2 capture were investigated. The amination reaction parameters such as solvent type, amine to solvent ratio and reaction time were optimized using the Taguchi method to maximize the level of amination in the adsorbent. The obtained data were statistically analysed using the analysis of variance (ANOVA) and signal to noise (S/N) ratio. The chemical, morphological, structural, and thermal properties of the aminated fibrous adsorbent were investigated using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). The performance of the obtained TEPA-containing fibrous adsorbent was evaluated for adsorption of pure and mixed CO2/N2 gases under varying pressure up to 30 bar. The optimization of the amination parameters led to an adsorbent with improved properties in forms of not only 23% higher amination level and 27% greater TEPA utilisation efficiency but also 31.6% bigger CO2 adsorption capacity than its corresponding adsorbent obtained without optimization. The adsorbent also demonstrated high CO2/N2 selectivity and regeneration stability. The results suggest that the obtained TEPA-containing fibrous adsorbent is a promising candidate for CO2 capture from CO2/N2 gaseous mixture under various pressures.