Efficient Gas Adsorption Using Superamphiphobic Porous Monoliths as the under-Liquid Gas-Conductive Circuits

The gas–liquid
membrane contactor forms a gas–solid–liquid
interface and has a high potential for the applications in gas adsorption,
catalysis, energy exchange, and so on. Porous superhydrophobic membranes
show a great gas separation/adsorption ability. However, the complicated
device architecture and the durability issue are normally concerned
especially for the continuous circulation of gas and liquid. In this
work, we present a free-standing gas-conductive circuit simply formed
by connecting the superamphiphobic porous monoliths (SAPMs) to achieve
an efficient under-liquid gas adsorption. The porous worm-like SAPM
is prepared with low-temperature expandable graphite and polyvinylidenefluoride,
exhibiting superamphiphobicity and superaerophilicity after fluoridation.
The as-made SAPM circuits can be used as a reliable gas conductor
under numerous liquids, such as water, alkaline, acidic, and oily
solutions. In this work, the CO2 adsorption capacities
of the SAPM circuits are evaluated under NaOH and methyldiethanolamine
solutions and the mass transfer rate can reach up to 9.61 mmol m–2 s–1. Moreover, the effective human
blood oxygenation process is also demonstrated using SAPM circuits.
Thus, the reported SAPM provides an alternative gas–liquid
exchanging method and the simplified process could be of great benefit
to the cost-effectively large-scale CO2 capture or gas
exchanging applications.