Sustainable Bifunctional Electrospun Hybrid Nanofibers for CO₂ Capture and Conversion

Bifunctional nanofibers for CO₂ capture and conversion can be fabricated by electrospinning. Using advanced methods like side-by-side electrospinning enables the integration of multiple independent functionalities. The combination of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) modified with poly(ethylene imine) (PEI) for CO₂ capture and PEO loaded with copper nanoparticles (CuNP) for CO₂ catalysis results in bifunctional fibers that can be synthesized using water as a green solvent. The fibers are characterized using scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and differential scanning calorimetry. The bifunctional properties of fibers are illustrated by gas adsorption and catalytic experiments. The production via side-by-side electrospinning leads to materials with orthogonal properties that can be adjusted and optimized independently. The introduced imine groups capture CO₂, which can be directly converted to methanol by hydrogenation at CuNP at a low temperature of 150 °C.