(395am) ‘Currant-Bun' AmberliteTM-Silica Composites For CO2 Capture

Polymer-silica composites have the potential to provide adsorbent materials with large particle sizes and high surface area with accessible pores for enhanced CO₂ transport and capture. Amberlites^TM are commercially available polymeric adsorbents used for various separation processes. These materials possess fairly large pores which can be tailored with the right groups for CO₂ capture.

Prepared Amberlite^TM-silica composites resulted in materials with high silica content. Spherical materials with particle sizes greater than 200 μm were obtained. Amine functionalization of the composites results in good functional group incorporation and materials with fairly large pores for easy access to the functional groups. TGA analysis of CO₂ capture show improved capacity on amine functionalized materials. Sorption kinetics analyses were made and the stability of the materials investigated by taking them through several adsorption-desorption cycles. Comparison of the capture capacity and sorption kinetics of CO₂ on non-functionalized and functionalized Amberlite^TM-silica composites will be made. Gas transport properties through packed columns of the composites will be related to the capture capacity and sorption kinetics.