Adsorption and diffusion in microporous solids

Application of Nuclear Shielding Surfaces to the Fundamental Understanding of Adsorption and Diffusion in Microporous Solids... 

In the first part of this chapter I outline the theory and practice of adsorption studies, before going on to examine the nature of adsorption of different molecules at specific types of sites on the internal surface and the diffusion of adsorbates through channels and cages in microporous solids. In the light of this, I discuss the role of adsorption in particular applications. 

Diffusion in microporous solids occurs by activated jumps along the pore channels or across cages within the structure. The rate of diffusion over short distances, of the order of the unit cell repeat, is determined by the frequency of re-orientation of molecules into configurations that permit motion, the strength of interaction with the framework, the distance between adsorption sites and the presence of other molecules in the pores. Structural defects, including... 

D. M. Ruthven, S. Brandani and M. Eic, Measurement of Diffusion in Microporous Solids by Macroscopic Methods , in Molecular Sieves, eds. H. G. Karge and J. Weitkamp, Springer GmbH, 2008, Vol. 7, Adsorption and Diffusion, p. 45. 

Soil reactions are generally classified according to the nature of the main chemical process involved adsorption, ion exchange, dissolution, etc. However, in order to assess the kinetics one should consider the nature and the rate of the transport processes associated with the chemical reaction flow and diffusion in the soil solution, transport across the solid-liquid interface, diffusion in liquid-filled pores and micropores, and surface diffusion penetration into the solid. An expression for the kinetics of soil reactions can be devised by assigning rate equations to transport and chemical processes and combining these equations. The expression finally obtained has to be validated by comparison to experimental results. 

The main focus of this volume is on imderstanding the transport of molecules in microporous solids such as zeolites and carbon molecular sieves, and the kinetics of adsorption/desorption. This subject is of both practical and theoretical interest, since the performance of zeohte-based catalysts and adsorbents is strongly influenced by resistances to mass transfer and intracrystalline diffusion. However, at an even more basic level, the performance of microporous catalysts and adsorbents depends on favorable adsorption equilibria for the relevant species, so a general imderstanding of the fundamentals of adsorption equilibrium is a necessary prerequisite for understanding kinetic behavior. This chapter is intended to provide a concise summary of the general principles of adsorption equiHbriiun and of the main features of sorption kinetics in microporous solids, which generally depend on a combination of both equilibriiun and kinetic properties. 

The FTIR technique has proven to be a powerful method for investigating adsorption, desorption, and diffusion of single components or binary mixtures in microporous solids such as zeolites. In the latter case of mixtures, the phenomena of codiffusion and counter-diffusion became accessible to measurement, which was not possible with methods of investigation based on changes of weight, volume, or pressure. Even with the powerful and most important NMR techniques (see Chap. 3 of the present volume), the study of multicomponent (e.g., H2-D2) self-diffusion rather than co- and counterdiffusion experiments is possible (see Sect. 1 and [6]). The only prerequisite for the IR method is that the IR spectra, which are contributed by the components of the mixture, can be sufficiently decomposed. This, however, was easily achieved for all systems studied so far, owing to appropriate computer programs nowadays available. Certainly, the computational methods... 

The ability of microporous solids to act as high-capacity molecular sieves has long been exploited in a wide range of applications in adsorption and separation. The electrostatic interactions of the traditional cationic forms of aluminosilicates are well suited for the uptake of polar molecules (such as H2O) and are also able to separate oxygen from air. The development of microporous solids with varied chemistry has enabled adsorption and diffusion properties to be finely tuned for particular technologies. Pure silica zeolite polymorphs such as silicalite have particular importance, because they enable separation on the basis of a different range of polarity and on molecular size the absence of aluminium in the framework also prevents the presence of unwanted acidity, so adsorbed hydrocarbons do not undergo any catalytic transformation. 

Shape selective catalysis as typically demonstrated by zeolites is of great interest from scientific as well as industrial viewpoint [17], However, the application of zeolites to organic reactions in a liquid-solid system is very limited, because of insufficient acid strength and slow diffusion of reactant molecules in small pores. We reported preliminarily that the microporous Cs salts of H3PW12O40 exhibit shape selectivity in a liquid-solid system [18]. Here we studied in more detail the acidity, micropore structure and catal3rtic activity of the Cs salts and wish to report that the acidic Cs salts exhibit efficient shape selective catalysis toward decomposition of esters, dehydration of alcohol, and alkylation of aromatic compound in liquid-solid system. The results were discussed in relation to the shape selective adsorption and the acidic properties. 

Porosity refers to the volume of pores in a solid. It contributes to the internal surface area of the sample and can influence the kinetics of adsorption. Diffusion into and out of pores is often considered responsible for slow adsorption and desorption processes. Pores vary in size and shape. They have been classified according to their average widths as micropores which are of the order of molecular dimensions (<2 nm), meso- or transitional pores which are between 2-50 nm and macropores which are larger than 50 nm (Sing et al., 1985). The sum of all the pores is called the pore volume (porosity). 

A number of methods are used for studying the sorption of basic probe molecules on zeolites to learn more about zeolite acidity. A common disadvantage of all the examinations is that adsorbed basic probe increases the electron density on the solid and, thereby, change the acidic properties of the sites examined. From this aspect it seems advantageous to probe the acid sites with a weak base, e. g., with a hydrocarbon. It was shown that adsorption of alkanes is localized to the strong Brdnsted acid sites of H-zeolites [1, 2]. However, recent results suggest that usually the diffusion in the micropores controls the rate of hydrocarbon transport [3-5]. Obviously, the probe suitable for the batch FR examination of the sites has to be non-reactive and the sorption dynamics must control the rate of mass transport. The present work shows that alkanes can not be used because, due to their weak interaction with the H-zeolites, the diffusion is the slowest step of their transport. In contrast, acetylene was found suitable to probe the zeolitic acid sites. The results are discussed in comparison with those obtained using ammonia as probe. Moreover, it is demonstrated that fundamental information can be obtained about the alkane diffusivity in H-zeolites... 

Abstract Infrared spectroscopic methodsfor the measurement of adsorption and adsorption kinetics of some aromatics (benzene, ethylbenzene, p-xylene), pyridine, and paraffins in solid microporous materials such as zeolites (MOR, ZSM-5, silicalite-1) are described as well as the evaluation of the spectroscopically obtained data. The adsorption isotherms are of the Langmuir-Freundlich type. Isosteric heats of adsorption, transport diffusivities, and activation energies of diffusion as deduced from the spectroscopic measurements are compared with literature data as far as available, and they are found to be in reasonable agreement with results provided by independent techniques. Special attention is paid to sorption and sorption kinetics of binary mixtures, especially the problems of co- and counter-diffusion. ... 

The CO2 isotherms at 273 K for a various high-organic soils and humic acid particles (77,75) are Type I, characteristic of microporous solids (19). Furthermore, CO2 adsorption is two or more orders of magnitude greater than Nj adsorption at comparable relative pressures. Using a model that assumes liquid condensation of CO2 in the pores, porosities of up to several percent of total solid volume are indicated. Given that this porosity is not revealed in the N2 isotherms, it is reasonable to infer that the pores are small (< 1 nm in aperture), internal, and accessible only by diffusion through the solid state. 

Infrared spectroscopy is a widely available technique and has been applied extensively in the study of microporous solids. Using Fourier Transform analysis, sensitive detectors and operating either in transmission or in diffuse reflectance (DRIFT) mode, powders can give spectra with high resolution and sensitivity. The method is most valuable when analysing the interaction of molecules with adsorption sites (acid or base) - this is described in Chapters 7 and 8. It does give some structural insights, however, for example on the environment of protons and on the presence of framework and non-framework cations. 

A detailed discussion of adsorption onto mesoporous solids is beyond the scope of this text, but certain features relevant to microporous solids should be described. Firstly, microporous solids can themselves contain mesoporosity. The most important example of this is observed in zeolites such as Y or mordenite that have been treated after synthesis to remove aluminium from the framework (Section 6.2.3). The migration of silica leaves mesopores that are evident from nitrogen adsorption isotherms and directly visible by electron microscopy. The presence of secondary mesopores enhances diffusion and catalytic properties. Conversely, mesoporous solids that are well ordered on the mesoscale can contain disordered micropores in their walls. The mesoporous channels of calcined SBA-15, for example, are connected by micropores that result from removal of block copolymer chains that run between the large channels in the as-synthesised material. This is observed from nitrogen... 

Diffusion of adsorbate molecules throughout the pore space of microporous solids is an essential step in many applications of microporous solids and determines their utility and selectivity in applications. Whereas the thermodynamics of the adsorption determines the equilibrium situation, the kinetics of an adsorptive or catalytic process is controlled by the diffusion rates. This is exemplified in their use in shape-selective catalysis, where molecules must reach and leave active sites distributed through the crystallites and therefore products that diffuse faster will be enriched in the molecular mix leaving the solid. 

---