Adsorption of Carbonyl Sulfide on Propylamine Tethered to Porous Silica

Carbonyl sulfide (COS) reacts slowly with amines in the aqueous solutions used to absorb CO2 from natural gas and flue gas and can also deactivate certain aqueous amines. The effects of COS on amines tethered to porous silica, however, have not been investigated before. Hence, the adsorption of COS on aminopropyl groups tethered to porous silica was studied using in situ IR spectroscopy. COS chemisorbed mainly and reversibly as propylammonium propylthiocarbamate ion pairs [R-NH(C= O)S- +H3N-R] under dry conditions. In addition, a small amount of another chemisorbed species formed slowly and irreversibly. Nevertheless, the CO2 capacities of the adsorbents were fully retained after COS was desorbed.