Moisture-resistant porous polymer from concentrated emulsion as low-cost and high-capacity sorbent for CO2 capture

Abstract

A moisture-resistant CO₂ adsorbent was designed and prepared. The adsorbent used porous polystyrene as a skeleton, surface modified with amine groups. The structure and morphology of the adsorbent were characterized using infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive spectrometry. Due to the huge specific surface area covered by a large number of amine groups, such porous material could be applied for capturing carbon dioxide under atmospheric pressure. Under a pressure of 100 Kpa, 3.46 mmol g⁻¹ of CO₂ adsorption uptake was observed. The porous adsorbent also exhibited a high CO₂ adsorption rate, excellent moisture resistance, good selectivity for CO₂–N₂ separation, and easy CO₂ regeneration.