Synthesis of hydrogels from polyallylamine with carbon dioxide as gellant: development of reversible CO(2) absorbent.

Hydrogels were successfully synthesized utilizing CO(2) as a gellant. A cross-linking reaction of polyallylamine (PAA) with CO(2) in the presence of 1,8-Diazabicyclo[5,4,0]-undec-7-ene (DBU) provided hydrogels bearing urea cross-linking points and residual amino groups in the side chains. The obtained hydrogels absorbed CO(2) at 25 °C and gave a maximum absorption four times larger than that of PAA aqueous solution and 2.8 times larger than that of the most commonly used absorbent, monoethanolamine. The PAA hydrogels desorbed the absorbed CO(2) completely under a N(2) atmosphere at 120 °C, and could be repeatedly recycled without loss of efficiency, indicating their potential application as recyclable CO(2) absorption materials.