Mesoporous zeolite-chitosan composite for enhanced capture and catalytic activity in chemical fixation of CO₂

Carbon dioxide is one of the greenhouse gases whose increasing concentration in the atmosphere can cause severe problems to both human health and wildlife. A simple ecofriendly procedure was developed to prepare zeolite-chitosan (ZY-CS) composite using solvent exchange followed by calcination for adsorption and chemical fixation of CO₂. The as synthesized ZY-CS composite along with zeolite and chitosan were characterized by attenuated total reflection infrared, X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric, scanning electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms studies. The ZY-CS composite showed enhanced CO₂ adsorption capacity compared with pure zeolite and chitosan. The composites also exhibited significant catalytic activity in the chemical fixation of CO₂ into cyclic carbonates. This work is foreshadowing the prospect of ZY-CS composite in enhanced capture and catalytic activity in chemical fixation of CO₂ for environmental applications.