Hybrid zeolite SAPO-34 fibres made by electrospinning

A new generation of compressor-free heat pumps based on adsorption technology and driven by solar energy is available. Performance and costs are, however, the main obstacles to their commercial diffusion, and more material and system developments are required. In this work, a new coating made of microfibres produced by the electrospinning of polymer/zeolite mixtures is presented. Three different polymer carriers, polyvinyl acetate, polyethylene oxide and polystyrene, have been used together with zeolite SAPO-34 as an adsorbing material. Electrospun microfibres showed a mean diameter ranging from 0.75 µm to 2.16 µm depending on the polymer carrier, with a zeolite content from 60 wt.% to 87 wt.%. Thermal analysis (TGA-DSC) results showed that water desorption from microfibres at T = 150 ◦C was close to 17 wt.%, a value in agreement with the adsorption capacity of pure SAPO-34. The morphology characterization of coatings demonstrated that the microfibre layers are highly porous and have an elevated surface area.