Adsorption of methanol on mesoporous SBA-15

The adsorption of methanol on mesoporous SBA-15 has been studied by using Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The BET surface area analysis shows decreases of the surface area from 387 to 383 m2/g, pore volume from 0.88 to 0.81 cm3/g and pore diameter from 9.07 to 8.4 nm after methanol adsorption. The appearance of strong IR bands at 2862 and 2964 cm− 1 due to methyl (–CH3) symmetric and asymmetric stretching demonstrate the presence of methanol and evidence of successful methanol adsorption. XPS results show increase of carbon and oxygen content on the surface of SBA-15. Thermogravimetric analysis shows that the methanol adsorbed on SBA-15 is stable up to a temperature of 265 °C and that the methanol adlayers decompose between 265 and 588 °C.