A novel method for sulfonation of microporous polystyrene divinyl benzene copolymer using gaseous SO 2 in the waste air streams

Abstract

In this study a novel sulfonation method for microporous polystyrene divinyl benzene copolymer (PSDBP) was introduced. In our sulfonation system gaseous SO 2 is used as the sulfonation agent and planned to be obtained from waste gas streams. The proposed method, therefore, combines SO 2 control and clean sulfonation technology in a single compact design. Molded polymeric monoliths of the PSDBP containing imprisoned H 2O 2 solution inside the pores ( PSDBP H 2 O 2 ) were produced in disk shapes. Dry gas mixture containing 3000 ppm SO 2 is fed into PSDBP H 2 O 2 disk reactor with a flow rate of 0.8 L/min and effluent gas composition in terms of SO 2 was measured. Breakthrough curves for varied initial H 2O 2 amount were used to calculate SO 2 adsorption capacity and sulfonation degree of the PSDBP H 2 O 2 disks. Successful sulfonation of PSDBP H 2 O 2 was verified by the changes in its morphological structure and formed sulfone bonds determined by SEM and IR analyses, respectively. Maximum adsorption capacity for PSDBP H 2 O 2 for the initial H 2O 2 volume percentage of 13% was determined as 57 mg SO 2/g polymer. It should be noted that SO 2 adsorption was observed only in H 2O 2 imprisoned polymer disks. Sulfonation degree of PSDBP H 2 O 2 which attained maximum SO 2 amount is calculated as 10%.