Aerosol processing of low-cost mesoporous silica spherical particles from photonic industrial waste powder for CO2 capture

A novel mesoporous silica spherical particle, MSP (AS) was facilely prepared using photonic industrial waste powder as the silica source via salt-templated aerosol spray approach. As an alternative to expensive mesoporous silica materials in prior works, the obtained MSP (AS) possesses advantages of simple and rapid synthesis with low manufacturing costs. The characteristics of the MSP (AS) material were investigated by the XRD, N2 adsorption–desorption measurement, SEM, TEM and TG/DTG analyses. The results clearly demonstrated the presence of mesoporous siliceous material with high specific surface area (585 m2/g), mesopore size (9.1 nm) as well as large pore volume (1.24 cm3/g). Furthermore, the MSP (AS) is evaluated as the support of adsorbent in terms of CO2 adsorption. It is observed that the amine-functionalized MSP (AS) adsorbent (TEPA-MSP (AS)) which possessed larger pore diameter and pore volume tends to have a higher adsorption capacity of 127 mg CO2/g adsorbent. This is superior to those of TEPA-SBA-15 (117 mg CO2/g adsorbent), TEPA-MCM-41 (112 mg CO2/g adsorbent) and TEPA-NaY (96 mg CO2/g adsorbent) under the same test condition. The results clearly suggest that the MSP (AS) synthesized using photonic industrial solid wastes via salt-templated aerosol route can be a potential and cost-effective adsorbent for CO2 capture.

► Mesoporous silica particle, MSP (AS) was synthesized via aerosol spray method.
► Using photonic waste and inorganic salt as precursors reduces the chemical costs.
► MSP (AS) made from photonic waste can be a potential adsorbent for CO2 capture.