Abstract
The carbon dioxide and water vapour adsorption properties of local clinoptilolite-rich material, both as the original and as lead-, barium- and hydrogen-rich forms, were examined. The lead- and barium-rich forms were prepared by treatment of the original clinoptilolite with Pb(NO3)2 and BaCl2 respectively, while the hydrogen-rich form was prepared by NH4Cl and heat treatment. Water and CO2 adsorption experiments were conducted in a volumetric system under static conditions, with low-pressure adsorption data being used for the characterization of the natural, Pb-rich, Ba-rich and H-rich clinoptilolite samples. Although the existence of barium-exchange was not noted, an appreciable decrease in CO2 adsorption was observed with the Pb-rich and H-rich forms due to a decrease in the electrostatic interaction between the surface and the adsorbate. Application of the Dubinin–Astakhov equation to the water adsorption data established the existence of micropores of different sizes that exhibited different adsorption mechanisms.