Green PILs 4 CO2

This project aims to optimize ionic liquids materials for carbon dioxide capture.

Carbon dioxide capture has become an urgent matter in response to global climate change, thus, reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions requires the development of new materials and technologies. Materials that enable selective CO2 separation from gas mixtures, and can easily be regenerated are of the most importance. The suitability of different sorbents for one particular application depends on the given operating temperatures, pressures, CO2 concentration in the feed, and also the presence and nature of impurities.

The separation of CO2 from industrial flue gases with ionic liquids is an emerging carbon dioxide capture technology. The major advantage resides on their capability of being designed and optimized for a specific task. Furthermore, these materials are known to have not only CO2 solubility but also selectivity. From the polymerization of ionic liquids monomers arises a new family, the poly ionic liquid (PILs) that bring together the unique characteristics of ionic liquids and a macromolecular framework that push further the carbon dioxide capture capabilities.

The main goal of this project is the development of PILs for carbon dioxide capture near atmospheric pressure and the development of a NMR methodology to study CO2 solubility and PIL-CO2 interactions.