Dual-bonded polyethyleneimine network with electron-withdrawing groups at α, β-sites for ultra-stable and low-energy CO2 capture in harsh environments

As an innovative approach to addressing climate change, significant efforts have been dedicated to the development of amine sorbents for CO2 capture. However, the high energy requirements and limited lifespan of these sorbents, such as oxidative and water stability, pose significant challenges to th...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Tong Zhou, Yunxia Wen, Zhinan Wu, Shuailong Song, Bohong Wu, Hongwei Guo, Huanhao Chen, Xin Feng, Liwen Mu, Xiaohua Lu, Tuo Ji, Jiahua Zhu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. 2025-05-01
Series:Green Energy & Environment
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468025724003133
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Summary:As an innovative approach to addressing climate change, significant efforts have been dedicated to the development of amine sorbents for CO2 capture. However, the high energy requirements and limited lifespan of these sorbents, such as oxidative and water stability, pose significant challenges to their widespread commercial adoption. Moreover, the understanding of the relationship between adsorption energy and adsorption sites is not known. In this work, a dual-bond strategy was used to create novel secondary amine structures by a polyethyleneimine (PEI) network with electron-extracted (EE) amine sites at adjacent sites, thereby weakening the CO2 binding energy while maintaining the binding ability. In-situ FT-IR and DFT demonstrated the oxygen-containing functional groups adjacent to the amino group withdraw electrons from the N atom, thereby reducing the CO2 adsorption capacity of the secondary amine, resulting in lower regeneration energy consumption of 1.39 GJ t−1-CO2. In addition, the EE sorbents demonstrated remarkable performance with retention of over 90% of their working capacity after 100 cycles, even under harsh conditions containing 10% O2 and 20% H2O. DFT calculations were employed to clarify for the first time the mechanism that the oxygen functional group at the α-site hinders the formation of the urea structure, thereby being an antioxidant. These findings highlight the promising potential of such sorbents for deployment in various CO2 emission scenarios, irrespective of environmental conditions.
ISSN:2468-0257