Amine-Impregnated Mesoporous Silica Nanotube as an Emerging Nanocomposite for CO2 Capture

Pristine halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) were pretreated to produce mesoporous silica nanotubes (MSiNTs), which was further impregnated with polyethenimine (PEI) to prepare an emerging nanocomposite MSiNTs/PEI (MP) for CO2 capture. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) was employed to analyze the influences of PEI loading amount and adsorption temperature on CO2 adsorption capacity of the nanocomposite. The Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area (SBET) of MSiNTs was six times higher than that of HNTs, and the corresponding pore volume was more than two times higher than that of HNTs. The well dispersion of PEI within the nanotubes of MSiNTs benefits more CO2 gas adsorption, and the adsorption capacity of the nanocomposite could reach 2.75 mmol/g at 85 °C for 2 h. The CO2 adsorption on the nanocomposite was demonstrated to occur via a two-stage process: initially, a sharp linear weight increase at the beginning, and then a relatively slow adsorption step. The adsorption capacity could reach as high as 70% within 2 min. Also, the nanocomposite exhibited good stability on CO2 adsorption/desorption performance, indicating that the as-prepared emerging nanocomposite show an interesting application potential in the field of CO2 capture.