Active Carbon-Supported Copper(I) Chloride as Solid Adsorbent for Carbon Monoxide

An active carbon-supported copper(I) chloride (CuCl) is prepared by stirring active carbon in aqueous hydrochloric acid solution of CuCl, followed by removal of the liquid phase under 6 mmHg at 100 °C. The resulting solid rapidly adsorbs carbon monoxide (CO) at 20 °C from 9:1 CO–N2 mixture under 1 atm (the CO partial pressure 0.9 atm) and the equilibrium molar ratio of adsorbed CO to CuCl is 0.88. All of adsorbed CO is promptly desorbed either by reducing CO partial pressure to 0.4 mmHg at 20 °C or by elevating temperature from 20 °C to 120 °C under 1 atm (the CO partial pressure 0.9 atm). Reversible adsorption-desorption cycles are repeated four times without measurable decrease in the adsorbing capacity. The adsorbing capacity of the active carbon-supported CuCl is much larger than either that of CuCl solid or that of active carbon. Effective CO adsorption by the present adsorbent is attributed to formation of complex between CO and CuCl, which is highly dispersed on the surface of active carbon.