Development of TRPN dendrimer-modified disordered mesoporous silica for CO2 capture

Abstract A novel series of tri(3-aminopropyl) amine (TRPN) dendrimers were synthesized and impregnated on structurally disordered mesoporous silica (DMS) to generate CO 2 adsorbents (TS). The physicochemical and adsorption properties of the adsorbents before and after dendrimer modification were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and N 2 adsorption–desorption (N 2 -BET) techniques. CO 2 adsorption–desorption tests indicated that the sorbent demonstrates high CO 2 adsorption capacity (138.1 mg g −1 for G1 sample TS-G1-3CN-50 and 91.7 mg g −1 for G2 sample TS-G2-6CN-50), and can completely desorb CO 2 under vacuum at 60 °C. Its CO 2 adsorption capacity at 25 °C increases with the amine loading, achieving the highest adsorption capacity (140.6 mg g −1 for TS-G1-3CN) at 60%. The developed TS materials exhibited excellent cycling stability. After 12 consecutive adsorption–desorption runs, TS-G1-3CN-50 shows an adsorption capacity of 136.0 mg g −1 , retaining 98.5% of its original value.