Irreversible Change of the Pore Structure of ZIF-8 in Carbon Dioxide Capture with Water Coexistence

The performance of zeolitic imidazolate framework 8 (ZIF-8) for CO2 capture under three different conditions (wetted ZIF-8, ZIF-8/water slurry, and ZIF-8/water-glycol slurry) was systemically investigated. This investigation included the study of the pore structure stability of ZIF-8 by using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and Raman detection technologies.

Our results show that the CO2 adsorption ability of ZIF-8 could be substantially increased under the existence of liquid water. However, the structure characterization of the recovered ZIF-8 showed an irreversible change of its framework, which occurs during the CO2 capture process. It was found that there is an irreversible chemical reaction among ZIF-8, water, and CO2, which creates both zinc carbonate (or zinc carbonate hydroxides) and single 2-methylimidazole crystals, and therefore the pore structure of ZIF-8 collapses.

It is suggested therefore that care must be taken when using ZIF-8 or products containing ZIF-8 for gas capture, gas separation, or other applications where both water and acid gases coexist.