Support-free adsorbents for CO
A product includes an aminopolymer material formed into a self-supporting structure, the aminopolymer material including crosslinked aminopolymers having amine sites for the capture of carbon dioxide molecules.
1 . A product, comprising:
an aminopolymer material formed into a self-supporting structure,
the aminopolymer material comprising crosslinked aminopolymers having amine sites for the capture of carbon dioxide molecules,
wherein the aminopolymer material comprises intra-material pores having an average diameter in a range of about 100 nanometers to 1000 microns.
2 . The product as recited in claim 1 , wherein no support material is present within an outer periphery of the self-supporting structure.
3 . The product as recited in claim 1 , wherein the self-supporting structure has an x-y dimension of at least 1 millimeter.
4 . The product as recited in claim 1 , wherein the self-supporting structure is in a form of a sheet.
5 . The product as recited in claim 1 , wherein the aminopolymer material has an internal pore structure having a physical surface structure characteristic of a previously-present porogen around which the aminopolymer material was formed.
6 . The product as recited in claim 1 , comprising a co-monomer in the aminopolymer material, the co-monomer configured to improve a mechanical property of the self-supporting structure, the mechanical property being selected from the group consisting of: mechanical strength, flexibility, ductility, and a combination thereof.
7 . The product as recited in claim 1 , comprising a co-monomer in the aminopolymer material, the co-monomer configured to improve a physical property of the aminopolymer material, the physical property selected from the group consisting of: thermal stability, mass transport of carbon dioxide through the aminopolymer material, thermal conductivity, electrical conductivity, and a combination thereof.
8 . The product as recited in claim 1 , comprising a co-monomer in the aminopolymer material, the co-monomer configured to improve a chemical property of the aminopolymer material, the chemical property selected from the group consisting of: chemical stability, association of carbon dioxide to an amine site, uptake quantity of carbon dioxide in the material, kinetics of carbon dioxide uptake in the material, kinetics of carbon dioxide release from the material, and a combination thereof.
9 . The product as recited in claim 1 , wherein the intra-material pores have an average diameter in a range of about 200 nanometers to about 2 microns.
10 . The product as recited in claim 1 , wherein the self-supporting structure is in a form of a 3D printed structure.
11 . The product as recited in claim 10 , wherein the 3D printed structure comprises inter-material pores.
12 . The product as recited in claim 11 , wherein the inter-material pores have an average diameter in a range of about 100 microns to about 10 millimeters.
13 . A method of forming the self-supporting structure as recited in claim 1 , the method comprising:
forming a structure using a resin, the resin comprising a functionalized aminopolymer having amine sites for capturing carbon dioxide molecules, a porogen, and a crosslinking initiator,
wherein each aminopolymer molecule has greater than one functional group amenable to crosslinking, wherein each aminopolymer molecule has up to five of the functional groups; and
causing crosslinking of the functionalized aminopolymer to form the aminopolymer material having amine sites for capturing carbon dioxide into the self-supporting structure.
14 . The method as recited in claim 13 , comprising combining the porogen with the resin prior to forming the structure, and removing the porogen after the crosslinking for creating a defined porosity in the aminopolymer material.
15 . The method as recited in claim 13 , wherein the functionalized aminopolymer includes an aminopolymer selected from the group consisting of: linear poly(ethylenimine), branched poly(ethylenimine), linear poly(propylenimine), branched poly(propylenimine), poly(butylenimine), poly(pentylenimine), poly(vinylamine), poly(allylamine), and a combination thereof.
16 . The method as recited in claim 13 , wherein the greater than one functional group amenable to crosslinking is selected from the group consisting of: an acrylate, a methacrylate, an acrylamide, a methacrylamide, an allyl, a vinyl, a vinyl ether, a vinylbenzyl, a vinyl phenyl, an alkyne, and an azide.