Polymers, Colloids & Interfaces, Short talk
PI-026

Amine functionalized nanofiber aerogel for efficient CO2 capture

S. Mousavi1, S. Ko2, C. Adlhart1*
1Institute of Chemistry and Biotechnology, Zurich University of Applied Sciences ZHAW, 2School of Chemistry, University College Cork, Ireland

Increasing CO2 emissions mainly as the result of fossil fuel combustion are a key factor behind global warming (1). This gives the CO2 capture and sequestration (CCS) technologies a priority in controlling and balancing the atmospheric CO2. Currently, different technologies such as adsorption, distillation and membrane separation have been used for CO2 capture (2, 3, 4).

Supported amine materials are an attractive group of solid adsorbents with some advantages compared to liquid amines (5, 6). Considering certain limitations such as clogging and recycling issues of particles and powders, different studies are recently indicating that amine modified aerogels with nonporous and three-dimensional structures are promising CO2 adsorbents (7, 8). However, finding flexible and mechanically stable aerogels, which are providing the possibility of surface modification, is still challenging.

In the present work, we developed a 3D porous pullulan/PVA/PAA nanofiber aerogel impregnated with PAMAM dendrimer. It is a very efficient CO2 adsorbent favoring the gas diffusion due to its porous architecture. The morphology, pore structure and chemical composition of the nanofiber aerogel were characterized. CO2 capture was performed in a continuous CO2 capture apparatus using dry CO2/argon gas mixtures. Repeated adsorption/desorption cycles showed a significant regeneration capacity of the nanofiber aerogel rendering it a promising adsorbent for continuous CO2 removal Systems.

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