CO2 adsorption in amine-grafted zeolite 13X

The adsorption of CO2 on Zeolite 13X functionalized with amino groups was studied. Adsorbent functionalization was carried out by grafting with different loads of monoethanolamine (MEA). The adsorbents were characterized by N2 adsorption/desorption isotherms at 77 K, x-ray diffraction, TGA, in situ FTIR, XPS and adsorption microcalorimetry. CO2 isotherms were studied in a gravimetric device up to 10 bar at 298 and 348 K. It was found that increasing loads of amine to the adsorbent tend to reduce micropore volume of the resulting adsorbents by pore blocking with MEA. There is experimental evidence that part of the loaded MEA is effectively covalently bonded to the zeolitic structure, whereas there is also physisorbed excess MEA which will eventually be desorbed by raising the temperature beyond MEA boiling point. Heats of adsorption at nearly zero coverage indicate that some of the adsorbed CO2 reacts with available amino groups, which agrees with the finding that the adsorption capacity increases with increasing temperature for the modified zeolite with the highest MEA load.