Sorption of volatile organic compounds and their mixtures on montmorillonite at different humidity

The vapor-phase sorption of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), i.e. n-hexane, benzene and methanol, along with sorption of their binary mixtures, i.e. benzene/n-hexane and benzene-methanol, on montmorilllonite with different water content was studied. The absolutely dry mineral did not exhibit selectivity towards the studied VOCs sorbed separately. The hydration inhibited sorption of hydrocarbons and promoted that of methanol because of intercalation of its molecules to the interlayer space of the swelling mineral and dissolution in the water films on the external mineral surface. Unlike separate sorption of benzene and n-hexane, sorption of their binary mixture on the montmorillonite, even equal by volume, was selective. The components shared the same sorption sites with benzene being more active due to its ability to form the donor-acceptor complexes with the mineral surface in addition to Van-der-Waals interactions. Opposite, in the benzene/methanol mixture the undoubted predominance of hydrophilic methanol over benzene was revealed, which increased with increasing humidity and was significantly stronger compared to the differences in sorption of methanol and benzene sorbed separately. In the binary mixtures unequal by volume, preadsorption played an important role in VOCs competition with sorption of aliphatic n-hexane being suppressed stronger than that of aromatic benzene. In the benzene/methanol mixture, methanol was predominantly sorbed at all the studied volume ratios and hydration degrees, occupying its specific sorption sites. Hydration of the montmorillonite caused the reverse impact on the sorption of benzene and methanol. As a result, at the full hydration state methanol sorption in the mixture reached that of the pure methanol. © 2014 Elsevier B.V