Amine modified, micro-mesoporous matrices for CO2 retention: effect of occluded templates on performance

A new research area devoted to the exploration of different CO2 capture technologies involves the use of novel adsorbents. The purpose of this study is to develop adsorbents which have a tailored surface functionality for improved CO2 adsorption. We have synthesized two types of porous matrices: SBA-15 silica and MCM-22 zeolite. Different quantities of amine groups were incorporated into these ordered materials using post-synthesis impregnation. Our results show that high capacities were obtained using the impregnated samples. Occluded template and amino groups favor the adsorption on SBA-15, meanwhile the best results using MCM-22 were obtained impregnating the free-template samples. In these samples, approximately 90% of the CO2 adsorption occurred almost instantaneously, and was removed just as rapidly at room temperature with an inert gas flow.