Four different types of amine-attached MCM-48 silicas were prepared and investigated for CO(2) separation from N(2). Monomeric and polymeric hindered and unhindered amines were attached to the pore surface of the MCM-48 silica and characterized with respect to their CO(2) sorption properties. The pore structures and amino group content in these modified silicas were investigated by XRD, FT-IR, TGA, N(2) adsorption/desorption at 77 K and CHN/Si analysis, which confirmed that in all cases the amino groups were attached to the pore surface of MCM-48 at 1.5-5.2 mmol/g. The N(2) adsorption/desorption analysis showed a considerable decrease of the pore volume and surface area for the MCM-48 silica containing a polymeric amine (e.g., polyethyleneimine). The CO(2) adsorption rates and capacities of the amine-attached MCM-48 samples were studied employing a sorption microbalance. The results obtained indicated that in addition to the concentration of surface-attached amino groups, specific interactions between CO(2) and the surface amino groups, and the resultant pore structure after amine group attachment have a significant impact on CO(2) adsorption properties of these promising adsorbent materials.

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A mesoporous MCM-48 silica was synthesized by a templating method and mixed with polysulfone (PSF) to fabricate mixed matrix membranes (MMMs). Helium permeation data and SEM images of as-synthesized MCM-48/PSF MMMs suggest that MCM-48 silica particles adhered well to the PSF matrix and that the MMMs were defect free. Gas permeation tests indicated that the increases in permeability resulted from increases in solubility as well as diffusivity. The increases in transport properties for all tested gases make mesoporous MCM-48 silica an attractive additive for enhancing the gas permeability of MMMs without sacrificing selectivity.

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The oxidation of n-butane to maleic anhydride was investigated over a series of model-supported vanadia catalysts where the vanadia phase was present as a two-dimensional metal oxide overlayer on the different oxide supports (TiO 2 , ZrO 2 , CeO 2 , Nb 2 O 5 , Al 2 O 3 , and SiO 2 ). No correlation was found between the properties of the terminal V= =O bond and the butane oxidation turnover frequency (TOF) during in situ Raman spectroscopy study. Furthermore, neither the n-butane oxidation TOF nor maleic anhydride selectivity was related to the extent of reduction of the surface vanadia species. The n-butane oxidation TOF was essentially independent of the surface vanadia coverage, suggesting that the n-butane activation requires only one surface vanadia site. The maleic anhydride TOF, however, increased by a factor of 2-3 as the surface vanadia coverage was increased to monolayer coverage. The higher maleic anhydride TOF at near monolayer coverages suggests that a pair of adjacent vanadia sites may efficiently oxidize n-butane to maleic anhydride, but other factors may also play a contributing role (increase in surface Brønsted acidity and decrease in the number of exposed support cation sites). Varying the specific oxide support changed the n-butane oxidation TOF by ca. 50 (Ti > Ce > Zr ∼ Nb > Al > Si) as well as the maleic anhydride selectivity. The maleic anhydride selectivity closely followed the Lewis acid strength of the oxide support cations, Al > Nb > Ti > Si > Zr > Ce. The addition of acidic surface metal oxides (W, Nb, and P) to the surface vanadia layer was found to have a beneficial effect on the n-butane oxidation TOF and the maleic anhydride selectivity. The creation of bridging V-O-P bonds had an especially positive effect on the maleic anhydride selectivity.

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