Porous covalent electron-rich organonitridic frameworks as highly selective sorbents for methane and carbon dioxide

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 2; no. 1; p. 401
• Main Authors: Mohanty, Paritosh, Kull, Lilian D., Landskron, Kai
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 19.07.2011; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 3,3'-Diaminobenzidine - chemistry; 639/301/299/921; 639/638/263; Adsorption; Air Pollutants - chemistry; Carbon Dioxide - chemistry; Carbon Dioxide - isolation & purification; Dimethyl Sulfoxide; Gases - chemistry; Gases - isolation & purification; Global Warming - prevention & control; Humanities and Social Sciences; Methane - chemistry; Methane - isolation & purification; Molecular Structure; multidisciplinary; Nitrogen - chemistry; Nitrogen - isolation & purification; Phosphoranes - chemistry; Porosity; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Waste Management - instrumentation
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/ncomms1405

Carbon dioxide capture from point sources like coal-fired power plants is considered to be a solution for stabilizing the CO 2 level in the atmosphere to avoid global warming. Methane is an important energy source that is often highly diluted by nitrogen in natural gas. For the separation of CO 2 and CH 4 from N 2 in flue gas and natural gas, respectively, sorbents with high and reversible gas uptake, high gas selectivity, good chemical and thermal stability, and low cost are desired. Here we report the synthesis and CO 2 , CH 4 , and N 2 adsorption properties of hierarchically porous electron-rich covalent organonitridic frameworks (PECONFs). These were prepared by simple condensation reactions between inexpensive, commercially available nitridic and electron-rich aromatic building units. The PECONF materials exhibit high and reversible CO 2 and CH 4 uptake and exceptional selectivities of these gases over N 2 . The materials do not oxidize in air up to temperature of 400 °C. Materials that can separate and capture carbon dioxide from power plant flue gases could help to stabilize atmospheric levels of the gas. Mohanty et al . develop inexpensive porous organonitridic frameworks with high selectivity and sorption capacities for carbon dioxide and methane.