Chitosan-based zeolite-Y and ZSM-5 porous biocomposites for H2 and CO2 storage.

Sustainable energy is the most valuable clean and renewable energy for the future. A simple, robust, and inexpensive ecofriendly method has been developed here to prepare chitosan-based zeolite porous biocomposites via solvent exchange followed by calcination. The resulting chitosan-based zeolite biocomposites were characterized using advanced technologies including attenuated total reflection-infrared (ATR-IR) spectroscopy, X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) analysis, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), high-resolution field-emission scanning electron microscopy (HR-FE-SEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), and nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms. The Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area of the ZeY@CS composite (795 m2 g-1) was greater than those of ZSM-5@CS (444 m2 g-1), pure chitosan, pure zeolite Y, and ZSM-5. The chitosan-based zeolite biocomposites show enhanced gas storage for small molecule like CO2 and hydrogen. Therefore, chitosan-based zeolite biocomposites should be suitable for energy storage, carbon capture, and sequestration (CCS) applications.