A diamino-functionalized silsesquioxane pillared graphene oxide for CO(2) capture

In the race for viable solutions that could slow down carbon emissions and help in meeting the climate change targets a lot of effort is being made towards the development of suitable CO(2) adsorbents with high surface area, tunable pore size and surface functionalities that could enhance selective adsorption. Here, we explored the use of silsesquioxane pillared graphene oxide for CO(2) capture; we modified silsesquioxane loading and processing parameters in order to obtain pillared structures with nanopores of the tailored size and surface properties to maximize the CO(2) sorption capacity. Powder X-ray diffraction, XPS and FTIR spectroscopies, thermal analysis (DTA/TGA), surface area measurements and CO(2) adsorption measurements were employed to characterize the materials and evaluate their performance. Through this optimisation process, materials with good CO(2) storage capacities of up to 1.7/1.5 mmol g(−1) at 273 K/298 K in atmospheric pressure, were achieved.