Probing the potential of polyester for CO₂ capture

Global warming, the major environmental issue confronted by humanity today, is caused by rising level of green house gases. Carbon capture and storage technologies offer potential for tapering CO₂ emission in the atmosphere. Adsorption is believed to be a promising technology for CO₂ capture. For this purpose, a polyester was synthesized by polycondensation of 1,3,5-benzenetricarbonyl trichloride and cyanuric acid in pyridine and dichloromethane mixture. The polymer was then characterized using FT-IR, TGA, BET surface area and pore size analysis, FESEM and CO₂ adsorption measurements. The CO₂ adsorption capacities of the polyester were evaluated at a pressure of 1bar and two different temperatures (273 and 298K). The performance of these materials to adsorb CO₂ at atmospheric pressure was measured by optimum CO₂ uptake of 0.244 mmol/g at 273K. The synthesized polyester, therefore, has the potential to be exploited as CO₂ adsorbent in pre-combustion capture process.