Author(s)

M. M. Khader^1*, M. J. Al-Marri¹, Sardar Ali¹, G. Qi², E. P. Giannelis²

¹Gas Processing Center, College of Engineering, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar.
²Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA.

A CO₂ solid sorbent based on polyethyleneimine 10k (PEI-10k) impregnated into mesoporous silica (MPS) foam was synthesized and utilized to capture CO₂ at temperatures ranged from 65°C to 95°C. The calculated nitrogen and carbon contents in the bulk of the PEI-10k/MPS sorbent were similar to the XPS results measured on the surface of the foam, suggesting that the PEI was homo-geneously distributed throughout the MPS support. After CO₂ adsorptionthe N 1s peak was broadened and could be resolved into two components: a high binding energy component (~401 eV) and a lower binding energy one (396 eV), respectively. The former nitrogen states are consistent with a protonated amine, presumably, due to carbamate formation. The lower binding energy component (~396 eV) could possibly be due to strongly chemisorbed CO₂. The maximum sorption capacity was about 4 mmole CO₂/g sorbent at 85°C and 1 bar. This capacity was doubled by raising the CO₂ pressure to 24.95 bars. The adsorption results can be described by a Langmuir adsorption isotherm.

XPS, Adsorption Isotherm of CO₂, Polyethyleneimine 10k, Mesoporous silica

Khader, M. , Al-Marri, M. , Ali, S. , Qi, G. and Giannelis, E. (2015) Adsorption of CO₂ on Polyethyleneimine 10k—Mesoporous silica Sorbent: XPS and TGA Studies. American Journal of Analytical Chemistry, 6, 274-284. doi: 10.4236/ajac.2015.64026.