Triptycene based fluorinated polymers with improved carbon dioxide capture and hydrogen/methane storage

Abstract

The use of direct arylation polymerization (DArP) as a viable strategy to obtain porous organic polymers (POPs) has not been explored to its full potential. Instead, other strategies (such as conventional cross-coupling reactions) are usually employed to yield POPs that employ expensive organometallic monomers whose syntheses require multiple steps. Herein, using DArP, three fluorinated porous organic polymers (fPOPs: TFPP1, TFPP2 and TFPP3) were obtained that represent unique examples of triptycene motif containing fluorine rich network polymers. These thermally stable polymers (Td > 400 °C with high char yields at 800 °C) are predominantly microporous with high surface areas (up to 1295 m2/g) and thus satisfy the requirement for facilitating superior adsorption of small gas molecules. The recorded CO2, CH4, and H2 uptake capacities of fPOPs are superior than several previously reported fluorinated/non-fluorinated POPs. High CO2 uptake capacities of fPOPs are due to the incorporation of ample triptycene motifs and polar C–F bonds in the polymeric backbone. Overall, the high thermal stability, surface area and sorption capacities demonstrated by these fluorinated polymers render them potential materials for the applications in capture of CO2 and storage of CH4/H2.