Effect of type of polymers loaded in mesoporous carbon dioxide "molecular basket" adsorbent on carbon dioxide separation from gas mixtures

Separation of CO₂ from various gaseous streams is becoming increasingly important in the field of energy production and sustainable use of fossil energy. A new kind of CO₂ "molecular basket", which shows high CO₂ capacity and superior CO₂ selectivity, was developed. The effect of different types of PEI on the adsorption separation performance of the CO₂ "molecular basket" adsorbents was presented. Highly effective CO₂ "molecular basket" adsorbent could be prepared by using mesoporous molecular sieve MCM-41 and polyethylenimine with a linear structure. The adsorbent with linear PEI showed a higher CO₂ adsorption capacity and a faster CO₂ adsorption/desorption rate, than those for the "molecular basket" adsorbent with branched PEI. This is an abstract of a paper presented at the 227th ACS National Meeting (Anaheim, CA 3/28/2004-4/1/2004).