Supported Imidazolium-Based Ionic Liquids on a Polysulfone Matrix for Enhanced CO2 Capture
Polymers, 2022
by David Domingo Huguet (Eurecat, Centre Tecnològic de Catalunya, Unitat de Tecnologia Química; Faculty of Chemistry, Universitat Rovira I Virgili), Ricard Garcia-Valls (Eurecat, Centre Tecnològic de Catalunya, Unitat de Tecnologia Química; Department of Chemical Engineering, Universitat Rovira I Virgili), Aitor Gual, Adrianna Nogalska (Eurecat, Centre Tecnològic de Catalunya, Unitat de Tecnologia Química)
Abstract
The present work demonstrates the potential for improved CO2capture capabilities ofionic liquids (ILs) by supporting them on a polysulfone polymeric matrix. CO2is one of the maingases responsible for the greenhouse effect and is a focus of The European Commission, whichcommitted to diminishing its emission to 55% by 2023. Various ILs based on combinations of 1-butyl-3-methyl- imidazolium cations and different anions (BMIX) were synthesized and supported on apolysulfone porous membrane. The influence of the membrane structure and the nature of ILs onthe CO2capture abilities were investigated. It was found that the membrane’s internal morphologyand its surface characteristics influence its ILs sorption capacity and CO2solubility. In most of thestudied configurations, supporting ILs on porous structures increased their contact surface and gasadsorption compared to the bulk ILs. The phenomenon was strongly pronounced in the case of ILsof high viscosity, where supporting them on porous structures resulted in a CO2solubility valueincrease of 10. Finally, the highest CO2solubility value (0.24 molCO2/molIL) was obtained withmembranes bearing supported ILs containing dicarboxylate anion (BMI.MAL).