Amine-Functionalized Porous Carbon for Efficient Adsorption of Propylene Oxide

As an important organic chemical raw material, propylene oxide (PO) has a large demand for its production. However, due to its low boiling point (34 °C), the subsequent transportation, loading, and unloading process also faces the risk of leakage of a large amount of volatile gases of propylene oxide, which will have a negative impact on the environment. Therefore, the design of efficient propylene oxide adsorbents has an important impact on the chemical production and transportation process and the environment. This study examined how the pore size of porous carbon affects propylene oxide adsorption using molecular simulation. The results identified the micropore range as optimal for adsorption. Comparative analysis of the impacts of the pore size distribution on the adsorption performance of propylene oxide revealed consistent results between experimental and theoretical calculations. To further enhance the PO uptake performance, amine-functionalized porous carbon was synthesized. Compared to unmodified porous carbon (C0, PO uptake capacity: 3.78 mL/g), the amine-modified porous carbon (C1) exhibited a significant improvement in PO uptake, reaching 12.5 mL/g. The results of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy show that the primary amine group on porous carbon reacts with propylene oxide via a ring-opening addition reaction during the adsorption process, resulting in better PO uptake performance of amine-functionalized porous carbon than pristine porous carbon. The regeneration performance of the amine-functionalized porous carbon material was also evaluated and proved to be excellent. These experimental and theoretical findings provide new ideas for further designing and developing adsorbents with enhanced uptake performance for propylene oxide.