Generation and Use of a Pure Titanium Pillared MCM-36 Structure As a High Efficiency Carbon Dioxide Capture Platform

The drawbacks of liquid amine streams, the current industry standard for carbon dioxide capture, has fueled research into solid layered absorbent materials. Zeolitic lamellar materials have attracted interest as a platform for carbon dioxide sequestration due to the possibility of post-synthetic functionalization, such as swelling, pillaring, or exfoliating. Here, we introduce a novel functionalization of MCM-22-P precursor with titanium oxides, which upon intercalation, hydrolysis, and calcination generates a titanium pillared derivative we term Ti-MCM-36. At room temperature, this material demonstrates superior capture capacities compared to MCM-36 pillared with silica (1.35 mmol/g for Ti, 1.02 mmol/g for Si), despite having less surface area (334 m²/g for Ti, 506 m²/g for Si). Ti-MCM-36 demonstrates full regeneration capability through multiple cycles of adsorption and desorption, and has decreasing capture capacity with increasing temperature. These together suggest that carbon dioxide adsorbs onto the surface of Ti-MCM-36 through a physisoption mechanism. Preliminary studies on Ti-MCM-36 in humid conditions suggests that the titanium derivative has decreased hydrophilicity as compared to silica pillared MCM. This may allow the Ti-MCM-36 to have superior carbon dioxide capture in humid environments, such as flue gas streams. The improved properties of this material provides a strong foundation for future investigation.