One-step synthesis of N-containing hyper-cross-linked polymers by two crosslinking strategies and their CO2 adsorption and iodine vapor capture

Here, a series of N-containing hyper-cross-linked polymers (HCPs) were synthesized from triphenylamine (TPA) or/and carbazole (Cz) monomers by one-step crosslinking reactions including Scholl coupling and solvent knitting Friedel-Crafts. Especially, the two reactions were also performed separately under adding both of TPA and Cz, and prepared HCP3 and HCP6. Notably, HCP1, HCP2, HCP3 prepared by Scholl coupling possessed better porosity with the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface areas (S-BET) of 199.9-534.5 m(2)/g and micropore volume (V-micro) of 0.088?0.24 cm(3)/g, while HCP4, HCP5, and HCP6 synthesized by solvent knitting Friedel-Crafts had inferior S-BET (10.8-34.8 m(2)/g) with meso/macroporous structure. In addition, these HCPs displayed high N contents, various morphologies, and different hydrophobicity. Interestingly, HCP1 similar to HCP3 exhibited high CO2 uptake (104.7?116.3 mg/g) and acceptable CO2/N-2 selectivity at 273 K and 1.0 bar, and large isosteric heat of adsorption (Q(st)) (28.0?46.7 kJ/mol), while the HCP4 similar to HCP6 showed the larger I2 vapor uptake (254.2?324.8 wt %) at 351 K and 1.0 bar than HCP1 similar to HCP3 (136.5?185.6 wt%). The results indicated the porosity especially microporosity played an important role on CO2 capture, while the SBET was not always the dominated factors for I-2 vapor adsorption due to the predominant chemical interaction by electrons transfer, and the chemical structure of polymer skeletons should make the large contribution. This work will develop multifunctional polymers prepared by the facile synthetic method, and make a promising adsorbents for CO2 and iodine capture.

Automated summary

A series of N-containing hyper-cross-linked polymers were synthesized from different monomers via one-step crosslinking reactions, exhibiting varying porosity, N content, morphology, and hydrophobicity. HCP1 and HCP3 showed good CO2 uptake, while HCP4 and HCP6 demonstrated higher I2 vapor uptake. The results suggest that porosity, especially microporosity, plays a key role in CO2 capture, while chemical structure is more important for I2 vapor adsorption.