Sorption of Light Organic Compounds onto Silica Mesoporous and Modified Zeolites

The adsorption of acetone, 1-propanol and carbon dioxide was tested with mesoporous silica materials made from non ionic surfactants with a long hydrophilic chain. The synthesis carried out in strongly acidic medium use tetraethylorthosilicate and zeolites as silica sources. X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), nitrogen adsorption-desorption analysis and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were applied to characterize the prepared samples. Acetone, 1-propanol and CO2 adsorption at 298K was evaluated by a volumetric method, and the sorption results indicate a high adsorption capacity of organic compounds, depending essentially on the porous texture of the materials. An adsorption kinetic model was proposed to describe the adsorption of VOCs over template-free mesoporous siliceous materials. A good agreement with experimental data was found.