Pelletized adsorbent of pillar[5]quinone for efficient and fast adsorption of NH3

Developing advanced pelletized adsorbents for efficient separation of NH3 from tail gas by pressure swing adsorption is highly desired. Herein, pillar[5]arene-based adsorbent pellets were prepared and tested for low-concentration NH3 adsorption. The results showed that the pelletized adsorbent of 90 wt% pillar[5]quinone with the binder 10 wt% sucrose (P[5]Q-0.9@Sucrose) rapidly achieved > 50 % NH3 capacity (6.48 mmol/g) within 29 s and reached 83 % of full capacity (12.82 mmol/g) in the subsequent 153 s at 298.2 K and 100 KPa. Meanwhile, P[5]Q-0.9@Sucrose obviously excluded the adsorption of competitive gases N-2 and H-2, resulting in high ideal selectivities for NH3/N-2 (5040) and NH3/H-2 (638). Column breakthrough tests further verified the excellent separate performance of P[5]Q-0.9@Sucrose in efficiently adsorbing 3 % NH3 in NH3/N-2/H-2 mixture. P[5]Q-0.9@Sucrose pellets also exhibited good reusability and mechanical stability during recycle and wear tests, making it a great potential application in pressure swing adsorption NH3 separation process.