Comparative studies on the toluene sorption performance over silicalite-1 zeolites with different morphologies

The silicalite-1 zeolites with different morphologies (spherical-like, plate-like, and brick-like) were synthesized successfully to study the toluene sorption. The results demonstrate that morphology has a significant and different effect on toluene adsorption under dry or wet conditions. The dynamic adsorption capacities follow S–S (spherical-like silicalite-1) > P–S (plate-like silicalite-1) > B–S (brick-like silicalite-1) under the dry condition (303 K). For the wet condition (RH = 50%, 303 K), the order of the dynamic adsorption capacities is P–S > S–S > B–S. Silicalite-1 zeolites were tested for five adsorption-regeneration cycles to study the reusability and their performance remained stable above 85% after five cycles. The calculated rate constants of Yoon-Nelson model and Weber-Morris (W-M) intra-particle diffusion model reveal that there is less diffusion resistance in P–S. The findings may provide valuable information on zeolite-based adsorbents for adsorption removal or recovery of volatile organic compounds. • The silicalite-1 with different morphologies were synthesized and tested for toluene adsorption capacity. • The toluene sorption data of plate-like silicalite-1 demonstrated the highest adsorption capacity under the wet condition. • Silicalite-1 showed above 85% of the original adsorption capacity after 5 adsorption-desorption cycles.