Preparation and characterization of double metal-silica sorbent for gas filtration

This paper presents the preparation of a porous (Mg, Ca) silicate structure, which could be employed as sorbent filter media. The sorbents have been prepared using sodium silicate precipitated with various ratios of magnesium and calcium salts. The sorbents obtained were characterized using scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and nitrogen physisorption isotherm. Further, the applicability and performance of the sorbent impregnate with potassium hydroxide for removal of sulphur dioxide (SO₂) has been demonstrated. From the isotherms, specific surface area, pore diameter and volume of pores were estimated. Results show that the chemical composition and textural properties of the resultant sorbents were highly dependent on Mg/Ca molar ratio. It was found that sorbents made with 68 mol% Mg and 32 mol% Ca (PSS-MgCa-68/32); and 75 mol% Mg and 25 mol% Ca (PSS-MgCa-75/25) exhibited even higher specific surface area and pore volume than the sorbents containing a single metal. The Mg/Ca-silica sorbents obtained contains interconnected bimodal porosity with large portions being mesopores of varied sizes. The pore size distribution (PSD) results further indicate that PSS-MgCa-68/32 sorbent exhibits wide PSD of interconnected pores in the size range of 1 to 32 nm while PSS-MgCa-50/50 and PSS-MgCa-75/25 exhibits narrow PSD of 1 to 5 nm. Using SO₂ as model contaminate gas, it was shown that the dynamic adsorption performance of the PSS-MgCa-sorbents impregnated with 8 wt% KOH exhibits SO₂ uptake, with impregnated PSS-MgCa-68/32 showing better performance. This shows that the materials prepared can be used as adsorbent for gas filtration.