Carbon dioxide capture using polyethylenimine-loaded mesoporous carbons.

A high efficiency sorbent for CO2 capture was developed by loading polyethylenimine (PEI) on mesoporous carbons which possessed well-developed mesoporous structures and large pore volume. The physicochemical properties of the sorbent were characterized by N2 adsorption/desorption, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermal gravimetric analysis (TG) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) techniques followed by testing for CO2 capture. Factors that affected the sorption capacity of the sorbent were studied. The sorbent exhibited extraordinary capture capacity with CO2 concentration ranging from 5% to 80%. The optimal PEI loading was determined to be 65 wt.% with a CO2 sorption capacity of 4.82 mmol-CO2/g-sorbent in 15% CO2/N2 at 75 degrees C, owing to low mass-transfer resistance and a high utilization ratio of the amine compound (63%). Moisture had a promoting effect on the sorption separation of CO2. In addition, the developed sorbent could be regenerated easily at 100 degrees C, and it exhibited excellent regenerability and stability. These results indicate that this PEI-loaded mesoporous carbon sorbent should have a good potential for CO2 capture in the future.