Photo-Triggered Co2 Release From Mussel-Inspired Polymers

Using solar energy instead of traditional steam energy could be a promising strategy for saving the CO2 capture energy consumption. Here we report solar triggered efficient CO2 release from a mussel-inspired CO2 capture solvent. Crosslinking polyethyleneimine and polydopamine by the self-polymerization was applied to capture CO2 and efficiently release CO2 by photoirradiation. CO2 absorption rate was improved by increasing the dopamine content in the crosslinked polymer. Furthermore, CO2 desorption rate increased with a moderate increase in the dopamine content. Polymer nanoparticles were formed by tailoring the concentration of aqueous ammonia and dopamine, which can be used to enhance the light absorbability and thus the CO2 desorption rate. A higher average CO2 regeneration efficiency of 93.4% can be reached via five absorption-desorption cycles, indicating that it is a promising strategy to greatly save the CO2 capture energy consumption.