Abstract
Mesoporous MCM-48 silica was synthesized using a cationic-neutral surfactant mixture as the structure-directing template and rice husk ash (RHA) as the silica source. The MCM-48 samples were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), N 2 physisorption and SEM. X-ray diffraction pattern of the resulting MCM-48 revealed typical pattern of cubic Ia3d mesophase. BET results showed the MCM-48 to have a surface area of 1024 m 2/g and FT-IR revealed a silanol functional group at about 3460 cm −1. Breakthrough experiments in the presence of MCM-48 were also carried out to test the material's CO 2 adsorption capacity. The breakthrough time for CO 2 was found to decrease as the temperature increased from 298 K to 348 K. The steep slopes observed shows the CO 2 adsorption occurred very quickly, with only a minimal mass transfer effect and very fast kinetics. In addition, amine grafted MCM-48, APTS-MCM-48 (RHA), was prepared with the 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTS) to investigate the effect of amine functional group in CO 2 separation. An order of magnitude higher CO 2 adsorption capacity was obtained in the presence of APTS-MCM-48 (RHA) compared to that with MCM-48 (RHA). These results suggest that MCM-48 synthesized from rice husk ash could be usefully applied for CO 2 removal.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
