Oxidation-stable amine-containing adsorbents for carbon dioxide capture.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 29463914.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-018-03123-0 and PMC identifier 5820286.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Amine-containing solids have been investigated as promising adsorbents for CO2 capture, but the low oxidative stability of amines has been the biggest hurdle for their practical applications. Here, we developed an extra-stable adsorbent by combining two strategies. First, poly(ethyleneimine) (PEI) was functionalized with 1,2-epoxybutane, which generates tethered 2-hydroxybutyl groups. Second, chelators were pre-supported onto a silica support to poison p.p.m.-level metal impurities (Fe and Cu) that catalyse amine oxidation. The combination of these strategies led to remarkable synergy, and the resultant adsorbent showed a minor loss of CO2 working capacity (8.5%) even after 30 days aging in O2-containing flue gas at 110 °C. This corresponds to a ~50 times slower deactivation rate than a conventional PEI/silica, which shows a complete loss of CO2 uptake capacity after the same treatment. The unprecedentedly high oxidative stability may represent an important breakthrough for the commercial implementation of these adsorbents.