A Novel Mesoporous Silica – Metal Organic Composite for Light Gas Removal and Storage

This work reports the synthesis and characterization of a novel mesoporous silica-metal organic composite that shows potential for light gas removal and storage.  The novel composite is composed of an inorganic silica phase impregnated with a metal organic phase.  Specifically, MCM-41 is impregnated with copper active sites, which are then functionalized with benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylic acid, which is the linker in the metal organic framework CuBTC.  X-ray diffraction, nitrogen adsorption isotherms, thermogravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and equilibrium ammonia capacities are used to characterize the composite.  High pressure carbon dioxide isotherms have also been measured.  The composite material has a high ammonia capacity of 5.2 mol/kg and remains stable after conditioning.  It also exhibits high capacity for carbon dioxide, leading to potential applications for carbon capture.