Adsorption of methanol on mesoporous SBA-15

The adsorption of methanol on mesoporous SBA-15 has been studied by using Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The BET surface area analysis shows decreases of the surface area from 387 to 383 m²/g, pore volume from 0.88 to 0.81 cm³/g and pore diameter from 9.07 to 8.4 nm after methanol adsorption. The appearance of strong IR bands at 2862 and 2964 cm^− 1 due to methyl (-CH₃) symmetric and asymmetric stretching demonstrate the presence of methanol and evidence of successful methanol adsorption. XPS results show increase of carbon and oxygen content on the surface of SBA-15. Thermogravimetric analysis shows that the methanol adsorbed on SBA-15 is stable up to a temperature of 265 °C and that the methanol adlayers decompose between 265 and 588 °C.