(611c) Novel Polymeric Fiber Sorbents Embedded with Porous Organic Cages

Focus on the synthesis and functionalization of porous organic cages (POCs) for separations have quickly grown over the last decade. However, to fully realize the potential of solid-phase POCs, they must be effectively packed into ordered structures for wide-scale use and implementation. Processes less destructive than pelletization are preferred and this necessitates alternate processing methods. This work shows the first fiber sorbent embedded with POCs, namely CC3R embedded throughout a cellulose acetate (CA) polymer matrix. CC3R was found to be stable after exposure to spinning solvents as confirmed by NMR, PXRD, and N₂ physisorption. CC3R-CA fibers were spun using the dry-jet wet-quench spinning method. Spun fibers retained the adsorptive properties of CC3R as confirmed by CO₂ and N₂ physisorption, reaching upwards of 60 wt% adsorbent loading. Addition of PVP led to significant leaching so it and other pore formers were excluded from the polymer dope. Fibers show slightly higher than expected CO₂ sorption at room temperature, believed to be due to a change in cage packing driven by non-solvent phase inversion. Fixed bed breakthrough experiments performed on both fibers and powder samples allowed for direct comparison of the sorption performance of the sorbent in different structures. The development of fiber sorbents embedded with POCs and displaying their adsorptive properties will help realize greater use of POCs as sorbents in other separation processes.