Enhancement of CO2 affinity in a polymer of intrinsic microporosity by amine modification

Nitrile groups in the polymer of intrinsic microporosity PIM-1 were reduced to primary amines using borane complexes. In adsorption experiments, the novel amine-PIM-1 showed higher CO2 uptake and higher CO2/N2 sorption selectivity than the parent polymer, with very evident dual-mode sorption behavior. In gas permeation with six light gases, the individual contributions of solubility and diffusion to the overall permeability was determined via timelag analysis. The high CO2 affinity drastically restricts diffusion at low pressures and lowers CO2 permeability compared to the parent PIM-1. Furthermore, the size-sieving properties of the polymer are increased, which can be attributed to a higher stiffness of the system arising from hydrogen bonding of the amine groups. Thus, for the H2/CO2 gas pair, whereas PIM-1 favors CO2, amine-PIM-1 shows permselectivity toward H2, breaking the Robeson 2008 upper bound.