Boosting CO2 selectivity by mono- and dicarboxylate-based ionic liquids impregnation into ZIF-8 for post-combustion separation

Post-combustion carbon dioxide (CO₂) capture/separation is considered one of the main ways to minimize the impact of global warming caused by this greenhouse gas. This work used eight mono- and dicarboxylate-based ionic liquids (ILs) to impregnate metal-organic framework (MOF) ZIF-8. This anionic effect was studied for these mostly unreported IL@MOF composites to determine its impact on gas sorption and selectivity performance. Characterization results confirmed IL impregnation into the structure of ZIF-8, along with the conservation of microporosity and crystallinity in composites. Sorption-desorption equilibrium measurements were performed, and CO₂ and nitrogen (N₂) isotherms were obtained at 303 K for ZIF-8 and IL@ZIF-8 composites. At 0.15 bar, the dicarboxylate-based composite [C₂MIM]₂[Glu]@ZIF-8 showed the highest CO₂ gas sorption, showing 50 % more sorption capacity than the best monocarboxylate-base composites at this pressure. Dicarboxylate-based composites also showed remarkable N₂ sorption in the low-pressure range. The ideal CO₂/N₂ selectivity for a typical post-combustion composition was calculated, and a trend regarding the anionic carbon chain size was observed. The composite [C₂MIM][Cap]@ZIF-8 showed nearly five times more selectivity than the pristine ZIF-8 at 1 bar of total pressure. Dicarboxylate-based composites, given their low-pressure high N₂ sorption capacity, were not as selective as their respective monocarboxylate-based IL@ZIF-8 materials with the same carbon chain size.