Amine-Based Latex Coatings for Indoor Air CO₂ Control in Commercial Buildings

High levels of indoor air CO₂ in commercial buildings can lead to various health effects, commonly known as sick building syndrome. Passive control of indoor air CO₂ through solid adsorbents incorporated into the paint offers a high potential to handle CO₂ without utilizing much energy. This study focuses on incorporating silica-supported aminopolymers into a polyacrylic-based latex that could be used as a buffer material for the passive control of CO₂ in enclosed environments. To maximize the effect of the pigment (adsorbent), paints were all prepared at critical pigment volume concentration (CPVC) levels. CO₂ at 800 and 3000 ppm were used to asses both low and high level contaminations. The removal efficiency of the surface coatings was evaluated within typical time frames (10 h for adsorption and desorption). Our laboratory-scale chamber results indicated that the silica-tetraethylenepentamine-based paint with 70 wt % loading exhibits the best adsorption performance, comparable to that of the powder-based sorbent, with only a ∼20% decrease in the adsorption efficiency. Our results also revealed that the optimization of paint formulation is critical in passively controlling indoor air CO₂. The findings of this study highlight the potential of amine-based adsorbents as pigments in high PVC paints for indoor CO₂ control in commercial buildings.