Hydrothermal-Freeze-Casting of Poly(amidoamine)-Modified Graphene Aerogels towards CO₂ Adsorption

• Main Authors: Alina Pruna, Alfonso Cárcel, Adolfo Benedito, Enrique Giménez
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-08-01
• Series: International Journal of Molecular Sciences
• Subjects: dendrimer; graphene oxide; hydrothermal synthesis; aerogel; adsorption
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/22/17/9333
• ISSN: 1661-6596; 1422-0067

This article presents novel poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM) dendrimer-modified with partially-reduced graphene oxide (rGO) aerogels, obtained using the combined solvothermal synthesis-freeze-casting approach. The properties of modified aerogels are investigated with varying synthesis conditions, such as dendrimer generation (G), GO:PAMAM wt. ratio, solvothermal temperature, and freeze-casting rate. Scanning electron microscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy are employed to characterize the aerogels. The results indicate a strong correlation of the synthesis conditions with N content, N/C ratio, and nitrogen contributions in the modified aerogels. Our results show that the best CO₂ adsorption performance was exhibited by the aerogels modified with higher generation (G7) dendrimer at low GO:PAMAM ratio as 2:0.1 mg mL⁻¹ and obtained at higher solvothermal temperature and freeze-casting in liquid nitrogen. The enclosed results are indicative of a viable approach to modify graphene aerogels towards improving the CO₂ capture.