Parametric Study and Detailed Kinetic Understanding of CO2 Adsorption over High-Surface-Area Flowery Silica Nanomaterials

Development of several emerging nanocomposites based on the immobilization of various amines over high-surface-area flowery silica nanomaterials achieved via a light-driven hydrolysis approach has been demonstrated for CO2 capture under standard temperature and pressure conditions. We have studied CO2 adsorption kinetics and adsorption isotherms for these novel functionalized nanocomposites during the adsorption process. CO2 adsorption capacity of these adsorbents has been estimated, and the time-dependent CO2 adsorption has been studied to evaluate the adsorption rate. We have also investigated the CO2 sorption performances of these nanocomposites by varying the anchored amines as well as their level of loading. The adsorption performance and stability of these adsorbents have been investigated over numerous adsorption-desorption cycles to ascribe their reusability as well as applicability compared to other reported adsorbents. A detailed kinetic study illustrates that the adsorption process follows Avrami's fractional order kinetic model, corroborating to the multiple reaction pathways involved in the adsorption process.