Compositions and methods for monitoring gas adsorption

A method comprising:

• a first transferring of CO2 from a first gas stream to a composition;
• and
• a second transferring of the CO2 from the composition to at least one of a second gas stream or a vapor stream, wherein:
• the composition comprises:
• tetrakis(4-hydroxyphenyl)ethylene (THPE);
• an amino polymer comprising poly(ethylenimine) (PEI);
• and
• a substrate comprising a metal oxide, wherein:
• the substrate comprises a pore volume, and
• the THPE and the amino polymer are positioned within the pore volume;
• the first transferring and the second transferring are repeated in series at least twice,
• the amino polymer is capable of reversibly switching between a glassy state and a liquid state or rubbery state,
• when in the liquid state or rubbery state, the amino polymer is capable of adsorbing the CO2 during the first transferring,
• when in the liquid state or rubbery state, the amino polymer is capable of desorbing the CO2 during the second transferring,
• when the amino polymer contains between 0.001 moles and 1.0 mole of adsorbed CO2 per mole of amine provided by the amino polymer, the amino polymer switches from the liquid state or rubbery state to the glassy state,
• when the amino polymer is in the liquid or rubbery state, THPE dissolved in the amino polymer fluoresces light with a λmax1 between 480 nm and 540 nm, and
• when the amino polymer is in the glassy state, THPE dissolved in the amino polymer fluoresces light with a λmax2 between 455 nm and 480 nm.