Gas adsorption properties of ZSM-5 zeolites heated to extreme temperatures

Journal Article · Wed Jun 29 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Ceramics International

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ceramint.2016.06.193· OSTI ID:1476191

Pérez-Page, María ^[1]; Makel, James ^[1]; Guan, Kelly ^[2]; Zhang, Shenli ^[2]; Tringe, Joseph ^[3]; Castro, Ricardo H. R. ^[2]; Stroeve, Pieter ^[1]

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1. Univ. of California, Davis, CA (United States). Dept. of Chemical Engineering
2. Univ. of California, Davis, CA (United States). Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering
3. Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

Zeolites are broadly useful catalysts and molecular sieve adsorbents for purification. In this paper the thermal degradations of bare and platinum-loaded ZSM-5 was studied with the goal of understanding the behavior of nanoporous solids at extreme temperatures comparable to those present in nuclear fuels. Zeolites were heated in air and nitrogen at temperatures up to 1500 °C, and then characterized for thermal stability via X-ray diffraction (XRD) and for gas adsorption by the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) method. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) were also employed. These results indicate zeolites are stable when heat-treated up to 800 °C and degrade slowly at higher temperatures. However, significant surface area degradation begins at 1025–1150 °C with an activation energy of 400 kJ/mole. At 1500 °C, gas adsorption measurements and SEM images show complete collapse of the porous structure. Finally, critically for nuclear fuel applications, however, the zeolites still adsorb helium in significant quantities.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Univ. of California, Davis, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE); USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
• Grant/Contract Number: AC52-07NA27344; NE0000704
• OSTI ID: 1476191
• Alternate ID(s): OSTI ID: 1358917
• Report Number(s): LLNL-JRNL-699144; 829006
• Journal Information: Ceramics International, Vol. 42, Issue 14; ISSN 0272-8842
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
nanoporous solids
surface area degradation
pore collapse
extreme temperatures
gas adsorption
helium adsorption