Unravelling Irreversible Adsorbate Thermodynamics through Adsorption Assisted Desorption

Strongly bound surface species like alkylamines adsorbed on the Brønsted acid site of aluminosilicate zeolites exhibit negligible rates of desorption, preventing them from achieving an equilibrated state on experimentally relevant timescales that limit the elucidation of their adsorption thermodynamics. Through adsorption assisted desorption, whereby distinct alkylamines facilitate desorption from Brønsted acid sites, we demonstrate that equilibrated states are achieved. Breakthrough adsorption measurements reveal that while sec-butylammonium on a Brønsted acid site is irreversibly adsorbed, it is readily desorbed when exposed to a distinct alkylamine like isopropylamine. As a result, two-adsorbate equilibrium was achieved when exposing Brønsted acid sites of aluminosilicate zeolites to a binary vapor phase alkylamine mixture. By varying relative vapor phase partial pressures and temperatures, we demonstrate the ability to experimentally measure the adsorption enthalpy and entropy of alkylammonium adsorbates on the mostly isolated Brønsted acid sites of H-ZSM-5 (Si/Al = 140). A multi-adsorbate Langmuir isotherm was found to quantitatively describe the co-adsorption of alkylamines varying in size and basicity over a wide range of conditions, through which the relative adsorption enthalpy and entropy of alkylamines was measured. Across a homologous family of sec-alkylamines (C3-C5) adsorbed on isolated Bronsted acid sites, a fixed contribution to the enthalpy (19 ± 4 kJ mol CH2-1) and entropy (25 ± 4 J mol CH2-1 K-1) of adsorption per methylene unit of was found to exist, likely resulting from electrostatic interactions between the alkyl chain and surrounding pore environment.