Adsorbent Contactors for Structuring Solid Sorbents into Porous Fibers for Separation Applications

Abstract

We report the incorporation of novel structured sorbents for gas capture into a processable polymer, amidoxime-functionalized polymers of intrinsic microporosity (PIM-1-AO), which acts as a structural contactor and enables the processing of sorbent particles into fibers. Two well-known silica sorbents, fumed silica and MCM-41, which are macro- and mesoporous sorbents, respectively, were incorporated into PIM-based solutions and spun into porous fibers using a scalable wet-spinning method. Unlike many other sorbent-structuring materials, the PIM-1-AO polymer contributes to the total gas uptake due to its intrinsic microporosity and functionalized amine sites. This dual functionality represents a significant advancement toward developing scalable, high-performance structured adsorbents for gas separation applications.