Elimination of ketone vapors by adsorption on spherical MCM-41 and MCM-48 silicas decorated with thermally activated poly(furfuryl alcohol)

Abstract Spherical MCM-41 and MCM-48 silicas with different arrangements of mesopores were synthesized in a water–alcohol solution of surfactant by the hard-templating method. The pore structure and morphology of the obtained materials were confirmed by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), low-temperature adsorption of nitrogen and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The surface of mesoporous silicas was decorated with small amounts of poly(furfuryl alcohol) (PFA), which was introduced by the precipitation polymerization and subsequently thermally activated at 523 K to form stable C O surface species detected by FTIR spectroscopy. The adsorption capacity of the PFA/silica composites in the elimination of various ketone (acetone, methyl-ethyl ketone and methyl-isobutyl ketone) vapors was compared to the effectiveness of pristine silicas. It was found that the modification of silicas by thermally degraded PFA enhanced their adsorption capacity. This effect was attributed to the appearance of another type of surface centers (namely carbonyl groups), which beside silanols interact with ketone molecules via hydrogen bonds. DRIFT spectra showed that a ketone molecule is bonded on silanol species in its keto form, whereas on carbonyl functionalities in enol one.