Highly Porous Hypercrosslinked Polymers Derived from Biobased Molecules

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Polymer Chemistry
• Green Chemistry

Background:

• Highly porous and hyper-cross-linked polymers (HCPs) are valuable materials with diverse applications.
• Traditional synthesis methods for HCPs often rely on unsustainable practices and non-renewable resources.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a sustainable synthesis route for HCPs using abundant biobased or biorelated compounds.
• To characterize the porosity, surface area, and CO2 uptake capabilities of the synthesized HCPs.
• To investigate the structural and chemical properties of the biobased HCPs.

Main Methods:

• HCPs were synthesized from biobased reactants including quercetin, tannic acid, phenol, 1,4-dimethoxybenzene, glucose, and bark extract.
• Iron(III) chloride was employed as a Lewis acid catalyst in sulfolane solvent.
• Characterization involved 1H NMR, 13C NMR, IR spectroscopy, wide-angle X-ray scattering, elemental analysis, and SEM.

Main Results:

• The synthesized HCPs demonstrated high CO2 uptake capacity, reaching up to 3.94 mmol g⁻¹ at 0°C and 1 bar.
• The materials exhibited high total pore volumes (up to 1.86 cm³ g⁻¹) and specific surface areas (up to 1440 m² g⁻¹).
• Structural analysis indicated amorphous, cross-linked aromatic and phenolic networks with significant aliphatic, oxygen, and sulfur content.

Conclusions:

• A sustainable and efficient method for synthesizing HCPs from biobased precursors was successfully established.
• The resulting HCPs possess desirable properties for carbon capture and other applications.
• This work highlights the potential of utilizing renewable resources for advanced polymer synthesis.