Microporous organic polymers for carbon dioxide capture

Anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions are thought to be one cause of global warming. Current methods for CO2 capture result in large energy penalties. Solid adsorbents are a potential method to capture CO2, but the sorbent-sorbate affinity is critical in determining the energetic viability of such processes. In this study, the adsorption of CO2 in a range of microporous organic polymers was tested. These materials adsorb up to 2.20 mmol/g CO2 at 298 K and 1 bar, and thus performance is compared with related porous solids in the literature. The relationship between CO2 uptake and apparent surface area and pore size is described, and this showed that heats of adsorption were important in the low pressure regime. The chemical tuning of gas-sorbent affinity provides a blueprint for the development of improved materials in this area.