Aminosilane-Functionalized Cellulosic Polymer for Increased Carbon Dioxide Sorption

Improvement in the efficiency of CO 2 separation from flue gases is a high-priority research area to reduce the total energy cost of carbon capture and sequestration technologies in coal-fired power plants. Efficient CO 2 removal from flue gases by adsorption systems requires the design of novel sorbents capable of capturing, concentrating, and recovering CO 2 on a cost-effective basis. This paper describes the preparation of an aminosilane-functionalized cellulosic polymer sorbent with enhanced CO 2 sorption capacity and promising performance for use in postcombustion carbon capture via rapid temperature-swing adsorption systems. The introduction of aminosilane functionalities onto the backbone of cellulose acetate was achieved by the anhydrous grafting of N-(2-aminoethyl)-3- aminoisobutyldimethylmethoxysilane. The dry sorption capacity of the modified cellulosic polymer reached 27 cc (STP) CO 2/cc sorbent (1.01 mmol/g sorbent) at 1 atm and 39 cc (STP) CO 2/cc sorbent (1.46 mmol/g sorbent) at 5 atm and 308 K. The amine loading achieved was 5.18 mmol amine(nitrogen)/g sorbent. Exposure to water vapor after the first dry sorption cycle increased the dry sorption capacity of the sorbent by 12% at 1 atm, suggesting its potential for rapid cyclic adsorption processes under humid feed conditions. The CO 2 sorbent was characterized in terms of chemical composition, density changes, molecular structure, thermal stability, and surface morphology. © 2011 American Chemical Society.