Facile preparation of oxygen-rich porous polymer microspheres from lignin-derived phenols for selective CO2 adsorption and iodine vapor capture

Lignin is a natural O-containing aromatic amorphous polymers from the residues of biorefinery and industrial papermaking, it can derive lots of aromatic phenol chemicals used as industrial raw materials by an efficient depolymerization, and then produce synthetic polymers. Here, we selected six aromatic units from the liquid products of lignin depolymerization, and tried to prepare diversified O-rich hyper-cross-linked polymers (HCPs) by one-pot Friedel-Crafts alkylation reaction for CO2 and iodine vapor capture. HCP1, HCP2, and HCP3 microspheres possessed similar porous structure with Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface areas (SBET) of 14.1–20.6 m2/g and high O content (26.34–30.68 wt%), while HCP4, HCP5, and HCP6 were composed of many bulks with 3D networks structure, and showed larger SBET of 15.4–246.9 m2/g and relatively low O content (18.48–26.38 wt%). The results indicated that the chemical position and quantities of substituent groups (methoxy and alkyl) into lignin-derived units had evident impact on their morphology and textural parameters. These HCPs exhibited considerable CO2 uptake (64.1 mg/g) and selectivity (35.2) at 273 K， and high iodine vapor uptake (192.3 wt%). Moreover, the performance analysis implied that the SBET and pore volume of these HCPs had not played the dominated roles in the CO2 and I2 adsorption, while their pore size distribution, O-functional groups, and electron density will be more important for the capture of the both. This study will offer a facile synthesis of O-rich polymer microsphere adsorbents based on the green and sustainable lignin. [Display omitted] •Lignin units derived oxygen-rich polymer microspheres were synthesized by Friedel-Crafts reaction.•Position and quantities of methoxy and alkyl affected their morphology and porosity.•These polymers had selective CO2 adsorption and efficient iodine vapor capture.•The iodine adsorption mechanism was carefully investigated and analyzed.•Pore size distribution, O-functional groups, and electron density dominated the adsorption of both.