In situ synthesis of SBA-3/cotton fiber composite materials: A hybrid device for CO2 capture

SBA-3/cotton fiber composite materials have been in situ synthesized via a confinement self-assembly process by using cetyltrimethyl ammoniumbromide (C16H33(CH3)3NBr, CTAB) as a template to control the mesostructure and cotton fiber, a green and facile material, as a matrix to control the morphology. This kind of composite materials present the morphology of cotton fibers, and SBA-3 particles cover the surfaces of cotton fibers. Compared with powdery SBA-3, smaller silica particles are formed on these composite materials, which is beneficial for enhancing the availability of pores in mesoporous silica; and the cotton fibers promote the dispersion of functional modified guest in mesoporous silica. After modification with tetraethylenepentamine, these SBA-3/cotton fiber composite materials exhibit considerable CO2 adsorption capacity and stable cyclic adsorption–desorption performance. These composite materials can be directly used as cheaper shaped composites for practical CO2 capture, and this synthetic route has the potential to prepare some functional devices.

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► In situ synthesis of shaped CO2 adsorbent via a confinement self-assembly process.
► Flexible netlike cotton fibers promote the dispersion of SBA-3 and TEPA.
► High efficiency of pore promote the CO2 adsorption capacity.
► These composites display stable cyclic adsorption–desorption performance.