Boron Nitride as a Selective Gas Adsorbent

A series of eight porous boron nitride materials with nitrogen/BET surface areas of 437-712 m[sup 2]/g have been produced using polymeric precursors varied by systematic synthesis modifications. All samples exhibit type I isotherms indicating that a majority of the porosity occurs in pores with radius less than 1.0 nm. Carbon dioxide adsorption at 273 K was analyzed using the Dubinin-Radushkevich (D-R) and Dubinin-Astakov (D-A) equations. Significant differences between BET/N[sub 2] and D-R/CO[sub 2] surface areas are observed. Adsorption of carbon dioxide and methane is measured at 273 K over the pressure range of 0-800 Torr, and significant differences in adsorption selectivity are observed. Although all eight samples have similar BET surface areas, the carbon dioxide uptake at 273 K and 800 Torr varies from 9.5 to 125 cm[sup 3]/g. Differences in the chemical and physical structure of the samples are probed with Fourier transform IR, X-ray diffraction, and small angle X-ray scattering measurements. CH[sub 4]/CO[sub 2] selectivity correlates with both the radius of gyration obtained from SAXS and the D-A coefficient from CO[sub 2] adsorption. 16 refs., 9 figs., 1 tab.