Biobased carbon aerogels incorporated with zeolite nanoplates for carbon dioxide adsorption

Abstract: Over the last 100 years there has been an increase of greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4 and N2O) in the atmosphere. These gases cause several problems with the climate on Earth, such as increasing problems with extreme weather. One way to decrease the outlet of carbon dioxide is by adsorption and capture of CO2. Biobased aerogels are one way to adsorb CO2. In this project the goal is to increase the CO2 adsorption capacity of a biobased carbon aerogel with zeolite nanoplates. The biobased carbon aerogel is prepared via freeze-casting a suspension made of LignoBoost lignin and (2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl radical)-mediated oxidized cellulose nanofibers, also called TEMPO-cellulose nanofibers (TOCNF). The freeze-casted structure is, after freeze-drying and carbonization, decorated with zeolite nanoplates. To find the optimal decorating method, three different decoration methods were tested. Thesemethods are called “decoration assisted by cationic polymer solution” (DC), “direct decoration” (DD) and “decoration incorporated directly in lignin suspension” (DS). The X-ray diffraction (XRD) together with Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), showed that the highest concentration of zeolite nanoplates in the samples, was achieved by the “decoration incorporated directly in lignin suspension” method. CO2 adsorption capacity test was performed at temperatures of 273.150K, 298.150K and 323.150K. The DS-sample did not perform better than the reference sample at low pressures (10kPa). At higher pressure (100kPa) the DS-sample had the highest adsorption capacity at test temperatures 273.150K and 323.150K.