Evaluation of Optimal Pore Size of (3-Aminopropyl)triethoxysilane Grafted MCM-41 for Improved COAdsorption

An array of new mcm-41 with substantially larger average pore diameters was synthesized through adding 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene (tmb) as the swelling agent to explore the effect of pore size on final adsorbent properties. the pore expanded mcm-41 was also grafted with (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (aptes) to determine the optimal pore size for coadsorption. the pore-expanded mesoporous mcm-41s showed relatively less structural regularity but significant increments of pore diameter (4.64 to 7.50 nm); the fraction of mesopore volume also illustrated an increase. the adsorption heat values were correlated with the order of the adsorption capacities for pore expanded mcm-41s. after amine functionalization,the adsorption capacities and heat values showed a significant increase. aptes-grafted pore-expanded mcm-41s depicted a high potential for cocapture regardless of the major drawback of the high energy required for regeneration. © 2015 zhilin liu et al.