Researchers from the CTC Technology Centre and the University of Cantabria have prepared two new materials based on graphene and mesoporous silica and graphene. Both materials have been amino-functionalised to give them the ability to adsorb CO₂ and to be used in future applications related to the capture and conversion of CO₂, the gas that causes the greenhouse effect and the primary cause, together with methane and dinitrogen oxide, of global warming. The new material aims to be both CO₂ selective and capable of adsorbing and completely desorbing CO₂; or in short, be reusable.

Researcher of the Advanced Materials and Nanomaterials team of the CTC, Marina González Barriuso, presented these advances in the 41^st Edition of the Iberian Adsorption Meeting and the 3^rd Edition of the Iberian-American Adsorption Symposium. It is a biannual forum specialised in this process by which atoms, ions or molecules of gases, liquids or dissolved solids are trapped or retained on a surface.

González Barriuso presented the progress achieved in two different posters. In the first, she explained the amino-functionalisation process of graphene oxide with two different types of molecules: PEI and APTMS. The amine groups that these molecules contribute to graphene oxide allow it to adsorb CO₂ by chemisorption. In the second, she explained how graphene oxide must be synthesised with mesoporous silica to achieve the nanomaterial that traps CO₂. This formulation, initially designed for use in the chemical industries, could solve problems arising from emissions of this gas.

In addition to presenting their features in a highly specialised forum, the international nature of the event, with participants from Europe, Latin America, Central America, North America and Saudi Arabia, enabled CTC researchers to establish new contacts on this subject and discuss the work carried, capturing new ideas at the same time.