CO2 sorption onto silica mesoporous materials made from nonionic surfactants

Abstract

Spherical mesoporous silica particles were successfully prepared by using non-ionic amphiphilic di-block co-polymers CnH2n+1-(EO)x-OH as templates and tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) as silica precursor. The synthesized mesoporous silica materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), N2 adsorption–desorption and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques. CO2 adsorption at 273 K was evaluated by a volumetric method, and the CO2 sorption behavior was described by applying both Langmuir and Freundlich equations. Results indicate a high adsorption capacity of CO2 (5–9 mmol/g), depending essentially on the porous texture of the materials. An adsorption kinetic model was used to describe the adsorption of CO2 over template-free mesoporous siliceous materials. A good agreement with experimental data was found.