A Promoted Mesoporous Silica-Based Material for SO2 Adsorption

Mesoporous materials have been widely used in the adsorption of air pollutants because of their uniform pore structure and large specific surface area. In this study, hexadecyltrimethylammonium chloride and tetramethylammonium hydroxide pentahydrate were used as structure-directing agents, silica as a silicon source, and tetramethylammonium silicate as a functional group to prepare a mesoporous silica-based material (MSBM) by a designed hydrothermal reaction. The synthetic materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Brunner-Emmet-Teller (BET), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FITR), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The adsorption efficiency of MSBM for SO2 in simulated flue gas under different conditions was studied. The results showed that the structure of the MSBM was the hexagonally ordered MCM-41 structure. It had the characteristics of uniform appearance, large specific surface area, rich surface groups, and strong thermal stability. The static activity of SO2 in flue gas could reach 32.1 mg/g under optimal conditions, which was slightly inferior to activated carbon. Therefore, MSBM has great practical application potential in the treatment of SO2 in flue gas.