PIM-1-assisted structuring of amine-functionalized porous organic copolymer for post-combustion carbon dioxide capture

Capturing CO 2 from flue gas of coal-burned power plants has been considered to be a promising technology to mitigate the environmental problems caused by rising level of CO 2 at the atmosphere. Amine-functionalized adsorbents, showing impressive CO 2 adsorption capability and selectivity even at low CO 2 partial pressure, face the challenge of permanent structural changes and performance deterioration due to the irreversibly bonding of SO 2 , a common impurity of flue gas, particularly under humid condition. Besides, the reported amine-functionalized adsorbents are usually nano-sized powders, impractical for industrial applications. Therefore, the development of efficient, stable, and structured CO 2 adsorbents is still an urgent need. Herein, we develop a novel structured mixed-matrix adsorbent (PIM-PP-DETA), using a diethylenediamine-appended porous organic copolymer (PP-DETA, prepared by a copolymerization reaction of dichloro- p -xylene and 4,4′-bis(chloromethyl)biphenyl and a one-step amine grafting process) as main adsorbent and PIM-1 as polymer matrix through a phase inversion process. The as-developed PIM-PP-DETA not only exhibits high CO 2 adsorption capacity and outstanding CO 2 selectivity over N 2 , but also shows fast adsorption kinetics and high stability under repeated adsorption-desorption cycling under dynamic flow conditions. Furthermore, PIM-PP-DETA possesses high tolerance towards acidic and moist environments, with CO 2 adsorption capacity remained at a relatively high level after SO 2 and humid exposure, suggesting its potential usage to post-combustion CO 2 capture.