A Pressure Swing Approach to Selective CO2 Sequestration Using Functionalized Hypercrosslinked Polymers.

Functionalized hypercrosslinked polymers (HCPs) with surface areas between 213 and 1124 m2/g based on a range of monomers containing different chemical moieties were evaluated for CO2 capture using a pressure swing adsorption (PSA) methodology under humid conditions and elevated temperatures. The networks demonstrated rapid CO2 uptake reaching maximum uptakes in under 60 s. The most promising networks demonstrating the best selectivity and highest uptakes were applied to a pressure swing setup using simulated flue gas streams. The carbazole, triphenylmethanol and triphenylamine networks were found to be capable of converting a dilute CO2 stream (>20%) into a concentrated stream (>85%) after only two pressure swing cycles from 20 bar (adsorption) to 1 bar (desorption). This work demonstrates the ease with which readily synthesized functional porous materials can be successfully applied to a pressure swing methodology and used to separate CO2 from N2 from industrially applicable simulated gas streams under more realistic conditions.

Efficient and Tunable White-Light Emission Using a Dispersible Porous Polymer.

A dispersible porous polymer (PEG113 -b-DVB800 -co-AA200 ) based on the controlled radical polymerization of divinylbenzene and acrylic acid with a poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) macrochain transfer agent (macro-CTA) is synthesized and postsynthetically modified with anthracene. This blue-emitting porous polymer is used to encapsulate the yellow-emitting fluorophore rhodamine B into its core, resulting in a white-light emitting dispersion with a quantum yield of 38% and commission internationale de l'éclairage coordinates of (X = 0.33, Y = 0.32).

Selective Environmental Remediation of Strontium and Cesium Using Sulfonated Hyper-Cross-Linked Polymers (SHCPs).

Sulfonated hyper-cross-linked polymers based on 4,4'-bis(chloromethyl)-1,1'-biphenyl (BCMBP) were synthesized via metal-free (SHCP-1) and conventional Lewis acid-catalyzed (SHCP-2) Friedel-Crafts alkylation routes. The sulfonated polymers possessed BET surface areas in excess of 500 m2·g-1. SHCP-1 was investigated for its ability to extract Sr and Cs ions from aqueous solutions via the ion-exchange reaction of the sulfonic acid moiety. Equilibrium uptake data could be accurately modeled by the Dubinin-Radushkevich isotherm, with maximum calculated loading values of 95.6 ± 2.8 mg·g-1 (Sr) and 273 ± 37 mg·g-1 (Cs). Uptake of both target ions was rapid, with pseudo second-order rate constants calculated as 7.71 ± 1.1 (×10-2) for Sr and 0.113 ± 0.014 for Cs. Furthermore, the polymer was found to be highly selective toward the target ions over large excesses of naturally occurring competing metal ions Na, K, Mg, and Ca. We conclude that hyper-cross-linked polymers may offer intrinsic advantages over other adsorbents for the remediation of aqueous Sr and Cs contamination.