(126c) Structure and Transport Behaviors of Liquid-like Nanoparticle Organic Hybrid Materials Designed for Combined CO2 Capture and Conversion

Liquid-like Nanoscale Organic Hybrid Materials (NOHMs) consisting of polymer grafted nanoparticles have shown great promise in applications, such as electrochemistry and gas separation due to their enhanced conductivity, tunability, and negligible vapor pressure. Recently, NOHMs are considered to be used as novel CO₂ capture materials and electrolytes for CO₂ conversion to high value chemicals. However, to employ NOHMs as CO₂ capture materials and electrolytes it is important to understand the conformation and transport behaviors of NOHMs in different chemical milieu. Our studies indicate that in the aqueous environment, there exists a large amount of free polymer in the solution that is not grafted to the functionalized nanoparticles. These protonated free polymers, dispersed in the aqueous solvent, may also strongly interact with the grafted polymer layer and greatly affect the neat structure of NOHMs. Thus, we identified those as “interacting” polymers to distinguish them from tethered or truly free polymers in the fluid system. The presence of supporting electrolyte shows a greater effect on the structure of NOHMs-based fluid as it not only alters the structure of the free polymer but also hinders the interaction of the polymer with the functionalized nanoparticles. Moreover, the change in the interaction of the Jeffamine M2070 with the functionalized nanoparticles due to the addition of supporting electrolyte has revealed a drastic change in the viscosity of NOHMs solutions. Overall, the dispersion of the free polymer, the interaction of the interacting polymer with grafted polymer as well as the change in conformation of free polymer and grafted layers with the addition of different solvents and salts provides valuable insight into how these nanoscale hybrid materials interact with CO₂. These results can be applied to fine-tune the structure of liquid-like NOHMs and will aid in a better understanding of their performance as CO₂ capture materials and electrolyte.