Synthesis of mesoporous materials for carbon dioxide sequestration

In the present work, the synthesis of mesoporous material sieves in pure silica form (MCM-41 and MCM-48) and Al, Fe, Cu and Zn containing, having different pore diameters (corresponding to those between the upper limit for zeolites and the lower end of the mesoporous materials), high pore volumes (>0.8 cm3/g) and high specific surface areas (>1000 m2/g) is presented. The advantages of these materials in the adsorption technologies depend on their high specific surface area and pore volume as well as on the possibility to vary their pore size distributions under mild synthesis conditions and without post-synthesis treatments. The different capacities of CO2 sequestration of these mesoporous materials, with respect to the N2 adsorption capacities, at room temperature and pressure of 1 bar, were studied. The results show that these materials have high CO2 adsorption capacity and selectivity (≅42 cm3/g and CO2/N2 ≅ 22, respectively), and high working capacity (≅17 cm3/g). These adsorption parameter values are comparable to those of the best adsorbents used in VSA processes.