Synthesis of a dual-templated MgO-Al2O3 adsorbent using block copolymer and ionic liquid for CO2 capture

Abstract A dual-templated MgO–Al 2 O 3 (denoted as SI-MA) was prepared by a single-step evaporation-induced self-assembly (EISA) method using P123 and ionic liquid as template. For comparison, P123-templated MgO–Al 2 O 3 (denoted as S-MA) and ionic liquid-templated MgO–Al 2 O 3 (denoted as I-MA) were also prepared by a similar method. The effect of P123 and ionic liquid on physicochemical properties and CO 2 adsorptive performance of adsorbents was investigated. All the adsorbents retained well developed mesoporous structure and SI-MA exhibited the highest surface area. It was observed that relative distribution of coordinately unsaturated aluminum increased in the order of I-MA  2− ions. It was also revealed that the CO 2 adsorption capacity under dynamic conditions, decreased in the order of SI-MA > S-MA > I-MA, which is in accordance with the trend of basicity. In conclusion, it was found that SI-MA with the highest basicity retained the maximum CO 2 adsorptive performance demonstrating that the basicity of the adsorbents played an important role in determining CO 2 adsorption capacity.