Synthesis of a polyacrylamide hydrogel using CO₂ at room temperature

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) is an environmentally harmful "greenhouse gas" that is present in abundant quantities in the earth's atmosphere. Thus, the sequestration and conversion of CO₂ to value-added organic chemicals is of environmental and economical importance. In this proof-of-concept study, amine groups of acrylamide compounds were found to react with CO₂ under ambient conditions to form a polyacrylamide hydrogel. This composite was characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), which confirmed successful synthesis and demonstrated all characteristics representative of a typical hydrogel material. Rheology analyses further proved the formation of the hydrogel, as well as its self-healing nature. The novel approach proposed in this work can potentially be used in the construction of versatile amine-based gel materials for efficient CO₂ utilization applications. (author)