Amine-Bridged Silsesquioxane with dangling amino group for CO2 capture

Amine-Bridged Silsesquioxane adsorbent with dangling aminopropyl groups (APTES-ABS) have been prepared by a hydrolysis-condensation process without the addition of any structural directing agent. The porosity of the adsorbent can be controlled by water content in the solvent that used for the adsorbent synthesis. Solvent containing 5wt% water produced a condense adsorbent with low surface area (0.8 m²/g), while 10 wt% and 15wt% water containing solvent generated high porous adsorbents with surface area of 99 and 188 m²/g and pore volume of 0.1 and 0.19 cm³/g, respectively. Both adsorbents synthesized from 10 and 15wt% water containing solvent have high CO2 adsorption capacity (130.5 mg/g). The adsorbent has low adsorption heat and specific heat capacity that resulted in relatively low regeneration energy (2769 kJ/kg CO2) compared to conventional aqueous ethanolamine 30wt% solution. The results suggest that APTES-ABS is a promising adsorbent that may help reduce the energy consumption of a CO2 capture process.