Mesoporous MCM-41 derived from natural Opoka and its application for organic vapors removal

Mesoporous silica MCM-41 was synthesized by a facile hydrothermal treatment using sodium silicate extracted from natural Opoka as the Si source. The dynamic adsorption and desorption of organic vapors mixture on the MCM-41 were investigated. Characterization of the textural properties of the samples showed that the sample synthesized with a molar ratio of CTAB/Si = 0.16 possessed the largest specific surface area (988 m²/g) and pore volume (1.02 cm³/g), also uniform pore size distribution centered at 2.8 nm. The adsorption capacity of this sample for organic vapors mixture improved remarkably over raw Opoka and reached 158.5 mg/g at 20 ℃, which is comparable to that of commercial activated carbon. The reusability of the adsorbent was tested by 5 adsorption and regeneration cycles. Obtained results demonstrate that the MCM-41 adsorbent can be easily regenerated by thermal desorption in air, and the cumulative heel on the adsorbent can be markedly reduced by increasing the desorption temperature, making it a promising adsorbent for VOCs abatement.