Spray-assisted layer-by-layer self-assembly of tertiary-amine-stabilized gold nanoparticles and graphene oxide for efficient CO2 capture

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is the process of capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) produced from the combustion of fossil fuels. CO2 is a major contributor to global warming and should be removed after combustion. The objective of this research is to design a CO2 capture membrane consisting of tertiary-amine-stabilized gold nanoparticles (Au NPs), graphene oxide (GO), and polyelectrolytes. A high CO2 capture ability is most important for designing a CO2 capture membrane that can maintain a high gas permeance. Multilayer films were fabricated using an automatic spray-assisted layer-by-layer (LbL) machine. The polar affinity of polyelectrolytes assisted the CO2 capture of tertiary amines. The randomly oriented and loosely stacked GO layers not only helped align the Au NPs in the polyelectrolyte matrix, but also helped maintain the permeance of N2. Thus, we successfully fabricated a CO2 adsorptive multilayer nanocoating with a maximum CO2/N2 selectivity of 48.48 while maintaining the N2 permeance at 1204.25 GPU.