Separation of Aromatic and Alcoholic Mixtures using Novel MWCNT-Silica Gel Nanocomposite as an Adsorbent in Gas Chromatography

The separations of alcohols with hydrophilic and hydrophobic parts, and the separation of aromatic mixtures, are extremely important processes in gas and petroleum industries. Choosing an adsorbent for performing this separation is the most important part of the process. Silica gel is used as an adsorbent is various techniques such as pressure swing adsorption (PSA) and gas and liquid chromatography. Due to the polarity of silica gel, it is used for the separation of polar molecules. Carbon materials such as activated carbon and recently carbon nanotube (CNTs) are widely used for the separation of nonpolar materials. In the course of this study, a new composite was fabricated using sol-gel methods. Multiwall carbon nanotubes (non-polar carbon-based adsorbents with high surface areas) were mixed with a silica gel base (a strong polar adsorbent). The composite was then used in the separation of mixtures of both aromatic hydrocarbons and alcohols.