A comparative study of CO2, CH4 and N2 adsorption in ZIF-8, Zeolite-13X and BPL activated carbon

Abstract

Experimental adsorption isotherms of CO2, CH4 and N2 in ZIF-8, Zeolite 13X and BPL activated carbon are reported at 25 °C and up to 1 bar. Results show that the adsorption capacity of Zeolite-13X is very sensitive to the activation temperature used. When properly activated its gas uptake is considerably higher than BPL activated carbon and ZIF-8. CO2/CH4 and CO2/N2 mixture adsorption isotherms based on IAST calculations reveal that Zeolite-13X also has significantly higher selectivities for CO2 compared to BPL activated carbon and ZIF-8. ZIF-8 performs poorly for CO2 separations within the pressure range investigated; on the other hand, its adsorption capacity shows no dependence of regeneration temperature. © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.