Abstract
This paper presents for the first time surface functionalization of cocoa shells (CS) through the covalent grafting of 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) followed by the substitution of poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) and in situ generation/insertion of cobalt nanoparticles (Co-NP). The immobilization and stability of APTES–PDMS on cocoa shell were confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry. Morphological analyses by scanning electron microscopy demonstrated that Co-NPs successfully grew on the surface of CS–APTES–PDMS. The CO2-adsorption capacity of these new materials was examined at ambient conditions. Both CS–APTES–PDMS and CS–APTES–PDMS–Co showed increased CO2 adsorption capacities as compared to unmodified cocoa shell. This enhancement was explained by the synergetic behavior of the silane derivate, PDMS grafting, and Co-NP incorporation for CO2 adsorption. This work represents a new step toward using cocoa shell as an excellent low-cost candidate for a variety of environmental applications such as CO2 storage at ambient temperature.