Directional porous polyimide/polyethylene glycol composite aerogel with enhanced CO2 uptake performance

Abstract

The cost of CO2 separation and energy consumption can be decreased through the use of CO2 adsorption. Due to the electron-rich heteroatoms in its network, polyimide (PI) has a remarkable affinity for CO2. Polyethylene glycol (PEG) can increase the layer spacing of polymers, so as to change the mass transfer of CO2 in it. Furthermore, the ether bond (-O-) in PEG has good affinity for CO2. In this study, PEG-1000 was introduced into PI aerogel by mild sol-gel method at low temperature, and freeze-drying was used to produce PI/PEG composite aerogels with directional pore structure. The effect of PEG-1000 content and directional pore structure of the PI/PEG composite aerogels on CO2 adsorption performance were further studied. The L-PI/PEG-4 composite aerogel, which contains 4  g PEG and is directionally frozen in liquid nitrogen, has a CO2 adsorption capacity of 16.76 cm3/g at 25°C and 1 bar. L-PI/PEG-4 aerogel also exhibits high CO2/N2 selectivity and adsorption cycle stability.