A combinatorial approach to screening carbon based materials for respiratory protection

Abstract

A combinatorial materials science approach for the discovery of an impregnated activated carbon that can adsorb a wide variety of toxic gases (i.e. a multi-gas carbon) has been developed. This approach presently allows for the parallel preparation and investigation of 64–100 IAC samples at once increasing the rate of discovery of viable multi-gas carbons. Multi-gas carbons were prepared using a solutions handling robot and screened gravimetrically for their effectiveness as gas adsorbents. The method was validated using known gas adsorbent materials such as ZnCl 2, K 2CO 3 and CuO-impregnated carbons. The calculated adsorption capacities and stoichiometric ratios of reactions for these known gas adsorbent materials, when evaluated using the combinatorial approach, was comparable to the values obtained using traditional methods of analysis. A library of samples prepared by combining various amounts of CuO and ZnO impregnants showed the expected decreasing trend in the calculated stoichiometric ratio of reaction with respect to increasing amount of impregnants added. The method is now ready to use to explore new systems of impregnated activated carbons.