Organophilicity of MCM-41 adsorbents studied by adsorption and temperature-programmed desorption

In this paper, the organophilic property of MCM-41 was studied and compared with hydrophobic silicalite-1 using adsorption and temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) methods. The surface heterogeneity of MCM-41 was evaluated in terms of activation energy for desorption (Ed) and isosteric heat of adsorption (qst). Results show that MCM-41 has a higher affinity to polar organic compounds than to non-polar organics while silicalite-1 has a higher affinity to non-polar organic compounds than to polar organics. This organophilic behaviour of MCM-41 is attributed to its surface heterogeneity.