| Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 72518 | Microporous and Mesoporous Materials | 2015 | 7 Pages |
•Physicochemical characterization of SG was performed before and after D4 adsorption.•After D4 adsorption, SG pores were totally blocked.•After D4 adsorption, free silanol groups at the SG surface were less abundant.•After D4 adsorption on SG, no desorption occurred in the range 25–800 °C in nitrogen.•Retention mechanism is based on hydrogen bonding, ring opening and polymerization.
Silica gel (SG) is an efficient adsorbent for the removal of octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4) – a volatile organic silicon compound present in biogas. Complementary physicochemical characterizations of SG before and after D4 adsorption were performed: specific surface area, porosity, pH measurements, infrared spectroscopy, thermodesorption, thermogravimetry and differential scanning calorimetry. A retention mechanism, based on a combination of hydrogen bonding (at low uptake) and polymerization (at higher uptake) is proposed. This mechanism is able to explain the difficulties of siloxane thermal desorption.
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