Superacid-promoted synthesis of highly porous hypercrosslinked polycarbazoles for efficient CO2 capture

A superacid-promoted "knitting" strategy has been developed for the generation of a novel family of hypercrosslinked nanoporous polycarbazoles for efficient CO2 capture. Using trifluoromethanesulfonic acid, a Brønsted superacid, we demonstrate the facile and rapid synthesis of highly porous polycarbazoles with BET surface areas as high as 1688 m2 g-1, and capable of adsorbing 3.5 mmol g-1 of CO2 at 298 K and 1 bar. This impressive result bestows the material with the highest CO2 uptake capacity for all nanoporous carbazolic polymers and ranks among the best by known porous organic polymers under this condition. This innovative approach affords a metal-free alternative to Friedel-Crafts alkylation, and may open up new possibilities for the rational design and synthesis of new hypercrosslinked nanoporous organic networks for carbon capture.