Highly stable amine-modified mesoporous silica materials for efficient CO₂ capture

A highly efficient and stable solid adsorbent invoking a direct incorporation of tetraethylenepentamine (TEPA) onto the as-synthesized mesocelullar silica foam (MSF) has been developed for CO₂ capture. Unlike most amine-functionalized silicas, which typically exhibit CO₂ adsorption capacities less than 2.0 mmol/g, such organic template occluded mesoporous silica-amine composites exhibited remarkably high CO₂ uptake as high as 4.5 mmol/g at 348 K and 1 atm. Moreover, notable increases in CO₂ adsorption capacities of the composite materials were observed when in the presence of humidity. Durability test performed by cyclic adsorption-desorption revealed that such adsorbents also possess excellent stability, even though a slight decrease in adsorption capacity over time was observed.