Investigation of CO2/N2 separation capabilities for various amine-functionalized organosilica membranes: synthesis and sorption study evaluation
摘要
This study investigates the effect of amine types on the structure of organosilica materials for CO2 separation. The materials were synthesized using primary (3-amino propyl triethoxy silane (APTES)), secondary (bis-[3-(trimethoxysilyl) propyl] amine (BTPA)), and tertiary (tris (3-trimethoxysilyl propyl) amine (TTPA)) precursors, differing in linking units and alkoxy group numbers. These materials show high stability and improved CO2 separation. Preliminary optimization was conducted on BTPA to determine the best type of acid catalyst, water-to-silane mole ratio, and catalyst-to-silane mole ratio. Material characterization was performed using FTIR, XRD, TGA, N2, and CO2 adsorption-desorption isotherms. The results revealed that a weak acid catalyst (acetic acid-HAc) produced a less stable Si-O-Si framework, while HNO3 formed more ordered frameworks. A water-mole ratio of 50 was needed for complete hydrolysis of one alkoxy group; thus, ratios of 150, 300, and 450 were used for APTES (3-alkoxy), BTPA (6-alkoxy), and TTPA (9-alkoxy), respectively. Higher acid ratios accelerated the formation of well-ordered Si-O-Si frameworks. CO2 capture evaluations showed that the secondary amine of BTPA exhibited the highest CO2 adsorption due to enhanced interaction and carbamate formation, followed by APTES > TTPA. APTES showed better CO2/N2 separation at low pressures due to lower steric hindrance and smaller membrane pore size, which improves the adsorption ability and separation. The membrane performance is in agreement with material characterization, which shows CO2 permeance of 2.1