Shaping metal-organic framework (MOF) with activated carbon and silica powder materials for CO2 capture

Metal-organic framework (MOF) UTSA-16 (Co) was shaped into pellets with diameters of 0.2 mm using activated carbon (AC), silica, and 8% polyvinyl butyral (PVB)/ethanol solution as a binder. A series of AC and silica pellets was prepared with different percentages of the UTSA-16 (Co) MOF. As the percentage of UTSA-16 (Co) increased, the CO2 adsorption capacity and CO2/N2 selectivity of the AC and silica pellets increased. AC/UTSA-16 (Co)− 30% pellets showed 83% enhancement in CO2 adsorption capacity and 800% improvement in CO2/N2 selectivity at 298 K compared to the AC pellet. The stability of AC-UTSA-16 (Co) pellets was analyzed by exposing them to SO2 and NO2 for 2 days. The performance of AC was further investigated by preparing an AC composite pellet using UTSA-16 (Zn). AC/UTSA-16 (Zn)− 30% pellets showed 75% enhancement in CO2 adsorption capacity and 1000% improvement in CO2/N2 selectivity than parent AC pellet. CO2 adsorption–desorption cycles were performed to examine the long-term stability of the pellet composites. The pellets were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for particle morphology, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) for thermal stability, and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) method for structural properties.