Quantification of chemisorption and physisorption of carbon dioxide on porous silica modified by propylamines: Effect of amine density

Detailed molecular aspects of carbon dioxide sorption on porous silica with different amounts of tethered and cross-linked n-propylamine groups were investigated. Infrared spectroscopy was applied to directly quantify physisorbed and chemisorbed CO2 on the amine modified silicas. The fractions of physisorbed CO2 and various chemisorbed species were determined as functions of CO2 pressure and the amine density on the modified silica. Physisorbed CO2 was a minor portion of the total CO2 uptake at low pressures, but its contribution increased to ∼35% at 1 bar of CO2 when the propylamine surface density was low or medium (0.87–1.67 NH2/nm2). Chemisorption of CO2 dominated when the propylamine content was high (2.74 NH2/nm2). The quantities of propylammonium propylcarbamate ion pairs increased with increasing propylamine content. At low or medium amine surface densities (0.87–1.67 NH2/nm2) this increase was approximately proportional to the amine density, but the quantity of ion pairs increased very significantly when the propylamine content was high (2.74 NH2/nm2). This dependency on amine density is consistent with the idea that a sufficiently close proximity of propylamine groups allows a formation of ion pairs. The relative fractions of carbamic acid and silylpropylcarbamate were significant for materials on which ion pairs could not form in significant amounts. Furthermore, the quantities of carbamic acid increased with increasing amine densities suggesting that the ion pairs have a role to stabilize the labile carbamic acid through hydrogen bonds.

Graphical abstractFigure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slideHighlights► Molecular aspects of CO2 sorption on amine modified porous silica were studied. ► IR spectroscopy was applied to quantify physisorbed and chemisorbed CO2. ► Relative amounts of the adsorbed species are given at various amine densities.