Hierarchical porous metallized poly-melamine-formaldehyde (PMF) as a low-cost and high-efficiency catalyst for cyclic carbonate synthesis from CO 2 and epoxides

• Published in: Journal of materials chemistry. A, Materials for energy and sustainability Materials for energy and sustainability, 2018, Vol.6 (18), p.8441-8448
• Main Authors: Yin, Jian, Zhang, Tianqi, Schulman, Emily, Liu, Dongxia, Meng, Jianqiang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 2050-7488; 2050-7496
• DOI: 10.1039/C8TA00625C

The deployment of fossil resources such as petroleum, coal and natural gas to produce fuels and chemicals has resulted in excessive carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions and serious environmental issues. The implementation of CO 2 utilization as a raw material for synthesis of fuels and chemicals has potential to reduce CO 2 emissions and close the carbon cycle. Cyclic carbonates, materials used as building blocks for polymers or green solvents in batteries, can be synthesized from CO 2 and alkylene oxides. Although a variety of catalysts have been synthesized to activate CO 2 and alkylene oxides for transformation into cyclic carbonates, either the catalytic efficiency is low or the catalyst cost is high. In the present work, we report a hierarchical porous metallized poly-melamine-formaldehyde (PMF) polymer catalyst that has a 100-fold monomer cost reduction and six- to several hundred-fold activity enhancement compared to the state-of-the-art catalysts for propylene carbonate synthesis from epoxide and CO 2 under the same reaction conditions. The hierarchically interconnected macro-, meso- and micro-pore structures in PMF that are formed via one-step high internal phase emulsion polymerization facilitate mass transport and accessibility to active sites. The high density of aminal groups and triazine rings in PMF provides multiple sites for CO 2 adsorption and the subsequent reaction with epoxide. The unprecedented low-cost and high-efficiency of metallized PMF as well as the simplicity in its synthesis exhibit great potential in the synthesis of cyclic carbonates for the chemical and plastics industries.