Exceptionally High CO2 Capture in an Amorphous Polymer with Ultramicropores Studied by Positron Annihilation

Synergistic enhancement of CO2/N2 separation performance via Ce-MOF-infused chitosan mixed matrix membrane

Reticular chemistry, exemplified by metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), has proven invaluable in creating porous materials with finely tuned structures to address critical global energy and environmental challenges. In this context, the need for efficient carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and utilization has taken center stage. One promising approach involves the integration of MOFs into polymer matrix to develop mixed matrix membranes (MMMs). In this work, cerium-based MOFs (Ce-MOF) were selected due to their robust CO2 capture capabilities, while chitosan (CS) was chosen as the polymer matrix due to its reasonably good selectivity and balanced CO2 permeance for the development of MMMs for CO2/N2 (20/80 vol%) separation. A comprehensive suite of analytical techniques, including FTIR, XRD, FESEM, XPS, TGA, EDX, FETEM, and BET, was applied for precise characterization of both the MOF and MMMs. Various operational parameters, such as Ce-MOF content and temperature, were systematically explored to investigate the CO2 capture efficiency of the synthesized MMMs. The results revealed that the optimized Ce-MOF-embedded CS MMMs consistently outperformed the bare CS membranes.

Probing the Free Volume in Polymers by Means of Positron Annihilation Lifetime Spectroscopy

Positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS) is a valuable technique to investigate defects in solids, such as vacancy clusters and grain boundaries in metals and alloys, as well as lattice imperfections in semiconductors. Positron spectroscopy is able to reveal the size, structure and concentration of vacancies with a sensitivity of 10^-7. In the field of porous and amorphous systems, PALS can probe cavities in the range from a few tenths up to several tens of nm. In the case of polymers, PALS is one of the few techniques able to give information on the holes forming the free volume. This quantity, which cannot be measured with macroscopic techniques, is correlated to important mechanical, thermal, and transport properties of polymers. It can be deduced theoretically by applying suitable equations of state derived by cell models, and PALS supplies a quantitative measure of the free volume by probing the corresponding sub-nanometric holes. The system used is positronium (Ps), an unstable atom formed by a positron and an electron, whose lifetime can be related to the typical size of the holes. When analyzed in terms of continuous lifetimes, the positron annihilation spectrum allows one to gain insight into the distribution of the free volume holes, an almost unique feature of this technique. The present paper is an overview of PALS, addressed in particular to readers not familiar with this technique, with emphasis on the experimental aspects. After a general introduction on free volume, positronium, and the experimental apparatus needed to acquire the corresponding lifetime, some of the recent results obtained by various groups will be shown, highlighting the connections between the free volume as probed by PALS and structural properties of the investigated materials.

Constructing novel hyper-crosslinked conjugated polymers through molecular expansion for enhanced gas adsorption performance

The porous organic polymers have been considered as effective materials for gas storage and adsorption. Herein, we synthesized highly crystalline nitrogen-rich covalent triazine frameworks (CTFs) by polycondensation for preparing the novel hyper-cross-linked conjugated polymers (HCCPs) with tunable specific surface area and pore volume through coupling Friedel-Crafts reaction, in which 1,4-Bis(chloromethyl)benzene and 4,4-Bis(chloromethyl)biphenyl as the expansion molecules were pillared between the layers of CTF-HUST. This technology not only increased the specific surface area and total pore volume of CTF-HUST by 2.56 and 4.68 times, but also greatly enhanced the utilization of adsorption sites of CTF-HUST. The HCCP2-1.25 exhibited the highest surface area (1349.29 m²g^-1) among these HCCPs and demonstrated excellent adsorption performance for ethyl acetate (1605.14 mg/g), ethanol (1371.49 mg/g), 1,2-Dichloroethane (1971.68 mg/g), benzene (1151.77 mg/g) and toluene (1024.28 mg/g) due to the multiple C-H…O, C-H…Cl, O-H…N and C-H…π interactions between volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and HCCPs framework. Moreover, CO₂ and H₂ storage capacities of the HCCP2-1.25 were 8.02 wt% and 1.54 wt%, 1.66 and 1.67 times higher than CTF-HUST, respectively. This study developed a simple and effective molecular expansion strategy to synthesize a series of novel high-surface-area porous polymers for potential applications in the environmental field.

Synthesis of Naphthalene-Based Polyaminal-Linked Porous Polymers for Highly Effective Uptake of CO2 and Heavy Metals

Studying the effect of functional groups on the porosity structure and adsorption efficiency of polymer materials is becoming increasingly interesting. In this work, a novel porous polyaminal-linked polymer, based on naphthalene and melamine (PAN-NA) building blocks, was successfully synthesized by a one-pot polycondensation method, and used as an adsorbent for both CO₂ and heavy metals. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, solid-state ¹³ C NMR, powder X-ray diffraction, and thermogravimetry were used to characterize the prepared polymer. The porous material structure was established by field-emission scanning electron microscope and N₂ adsorption–desorption methods at 77 K. The polymer exhibited excellent uptake of CO₂, 133 mg/g at 273 K and 1 bar. In addition, the adsorption behavior of PAN-NA for different metal cations, including Pb(II), Cr(III), Cu(II), Cd(II), Ni(II), and Ba(II), was investigated; a significant adsorption selectivity toward the Pb(II) cation was detected. The influence of pH, adsorbent dose, initial concentrations, and contact time was also assessed. Our results prove that the introduction of naphthalene in the polymer network improves the porosity and, thus, CO₂ adsorption, as well as the adsorption of heavy metals.

In situ controllable synthesis of Schiff base networks porous polymer coatings for open-tubular capillary electrochromatography

A uniform Schiff base network (SNW) film was synthesized in situ in a controllable way through continuous flow of reactants inside the capillary. The properties and application of the as-prepared capillary was investigated in capillary electrochromatography. The effects of reaction monomer concentration and reaction time on coating thickness were studied by SEM. The results show that the reaction condition has a significant influence on the morphology and thickness of the SNW films. The thickness of the film can be controlled by changing the concentration of reaction solution and reaction time. Capillaries coated under different conditions were employed to separate four nucleotides by capillary electrochromatography, which demonstrated significant variation of migration time, peak order, and separation efficiency. Analytes containing nitrogen heterocycle structures, such as nucleotides, methylimidazole isomers, and β-lactam antibiotics, were successfully separated with the prepared open-tubular columns. Under the selected separation conditions, theoretical plate number of four nucleotides is in a range 45,237-104,505 plates·m^-1, and the resolutions are 1.98-8.07. A resolution of 1.75 is obtained for methylimidazole isomers. The nucleotides in a real sample, chicken essence seasoning, were determined using the prepared capillary column with satisfactory recoveries in the range 95 to 105%.

Synthesis of a novel Ce(iii)/melamine coordination polymer and its application for corrosion protection of AA2024 in NaCl solution

We present the synthesis of a new cerium(iii)-melamine coordination polymer (CMCP) by a mixed-solvothermal method and its characterization. Characterization techniques included Raman, Fourier Transformation Infra-Red (FTIR), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), in which the change in the electronic environment and the crystallinity were tracked. The characterization results confirm the coordination of cerium(iii) with melamine through -NH2 groups, instead of the N atoms of the triazine ring, for which we propose a mechanism of interaction. In addition, Biovia Materials Studio package was applied to determine and investigate the molecular structure of the CMCP. All simulations were done using COMPASS force-field theory and atom-based method for summation of electrostatic and van de Waals forces. The application of the CMCP for the corrosion inhibition of AA2024 in 3.5% NaCl solution was tested using the potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) techniques. The results point out that the presence of cerium as cerium(iii) in the CMCP structure plays the fundamental role of inhibition, whereby the inhibition mechanism occurs by cathodic oxidation of Ce(iii) to Ce(iv) and cyclic reduction of Ce(iv) to Ce(iii) by melamine part of CMCP.

Novel bio-inspired three-dimensional nanocomposites based on montmorillonite and chitosan

In this study, inspired by nacre-like structural natural shells, novel three-dimensional (3D) nanocomposites based on natural nanoplatelets of montmorillonite (MMT) and polysaccharide of chitosan (CS) were prepared with solution intercalation and self-assembly process. The CS-intercalated-MMT nanoplatelets units acted as "bricks" and CS molecules acted as "mortar", arranging in fairly well-ordered layered structure. With addition of glutaraldehyde (GA) and Pd²⁺ cations, synergistic toughening and strengthening effects of covalent and ionic bonds could be achieved. The best mechanical properties of the prepared 3D nanocomposites were observed as 5.6 KJ/m² (impact strength), 3.3 GPa (flexural modulus), and 65.8 MPa (flexural strength), respectively, which showed higher toughness but lower flexural properties than natural pearl mussel shells. Nevertheless, both the impact and flexural properties of the prepared 3D nanocomposite were much higher than the other natural shell, i.e. green grab shell. Besides conventional methods characterizations, the nacre-like structure of the artificial 3D nanocomposite was further evidenced with positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy characterizations. This work might facilitate a versatile platform for developing green 3D bionanocomposites with fairly good mechanical properties.

Postfunctionalization of Porous Organic Polymers Based on Friedel-Crafts Acylation for CO2 and Hg2+ Capture

Melamine-based porous organic polymers (POPs) are promising for gas uptake and water treatment because of their unique and tunable porosity, high nitrogen (N) content, and high Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area (S_BET). However, it is difficult to construct ketone-based POPs by the Friedel-Crafts acylation reaction. Herein, the ketone-based POPs were postfunctionalized with melamine (MA) by the Schiff-based reaction and the rigid triazine rings of MA were embedded in the polymer chains as rigid cross-linkers, resulting in the polymers with high S_BET (555 m²·g^-1) and total pore volume (0.72 cm³·g^-1). Moreover, plentiful imine, amino, and triazine functionalities were inserted in the polymers, providing the polymers with high N content of 41.83 wt %. The resulting polymers were promising for CO₂ capture (145 mg·g^-1; 273 K, 1.0 bar) and Hg²⁺ removal (372 mg·g^-1). This study offers a universal strategy to construct melamine-based POPs from various ketone-functionalized HCPs via a simple postfunctionalization.

Chitosan modified Ti-PILC supported PdOx catalysts for coupling reactions of aryl halides with terminal alkynes

Biopolymer of chitosan (CS) and titanium pillared clays (Ti-PILCs) have been combined in a hybrid as advanced supports for immobilization of PdOx=0,1 species to prepare novel PdOx=0,1@Ti-PILC/CS nano-composite catalysts. The Ti-PILC materials showed high specific surface areas and abundant meso-porous structure with many irregular pore channels caused by collapses of layered structure of clay during Ti pillaring process. Both CS chains and sub-nano sized PdOx particles were successfully incorporated into the pore channels of Ti-PILC, resulting in a decrease in both the specific surface areas and uniform distribution of pore size. Besides conventional methods characterizations, the strong interactions between PdOx species and Ti-PILC/CS support were further evidenced with positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy studies. The resultant PdOx@Ti-PILC/CS catalyst was highly active for the coupling reactions of aryl halides with phenyl acetylenes. It was recyclable and gave excellent yield up to 13 runs with low leaching of Pd species.