Enhancing CO₂ capture through innovating monolithic graphene oxide frameworks

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Chemical Engineering
• Environmental Science

Background:

• Development of advanced porous crystalline materials is crucial for effective carbon dioxide (CO2) capture.
• Graphene oxide frameworks offer potential for CO2 adsorption applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize and characterize novel monolithic reduced graphene oxide-based adsorbents.
• To evaluate the CO2 capture performance of KOH-treated graphene oxide frameworks.

Main Methods:

• Synthesis of monolithic reduced graphene oxide (MGO) via self-assembly of graphene oxide (GO) and malic acid (MaA) at various ratios.
• Modification of MGO 0.250 using KOH treatment with chloroacetic acid to create MGO 0.250_KOH.
• Characterization using FT-IR, XRD, Raman, BET, SEM, HR-TEM, and XPS; CO2 capture assessment at 25 °C and 1 bar.

Main Results:

• MGO 0.250_KOH exhibited enhanced CO2 capture capacity, increasing from 1.69 to 2.35 mmol g⁻¹.
• Specific surface area increased from 287.93 to 419.75 m² g⁻¹ after KOH treatment.
• High production yield (82.92%) and regenerability (98.80% at 100 °C) were achieved.

Conclusions:

• KOH-treated monolithic reduced graphene oxide frameworks demonstrate superior CO2 adsorption performance.
• These adsorbents are promising for post-combustion CO2 capture due to enhanced capacity and stability.
• The synthesis strategy presents a viable pre-treatment technique for industrial applications.