Insights into the Absorption of Hydrocarbon Gases in Phosphorus-Containing Ionic Liquids

A High-Throughput Experimental Approach to Screening Gas Sorption by Liquids and Solids

High-precision measurement of gas uptake from single or mixed feeds in solid and liquid sorbents traditionally requires time-consuming experimental procedures and/or complex and costly equipment. A simple and cost-effective headspace gas chromatography (HS-GC) approach for the fast, universal experimental screening of sorbents for gas uptake and/or determination of their real gas separation selectivity has been developed and is demonstrated for pressures up to 2500 mbar and temperatures above 30 °C. This method allows screening of solids and both volatile and nonvolatile liquid materials, physisorbents, and chemisorbents using both single and mixed permanent gases that can include CO2, CH4, H2, and NH3, for gas uptakes as low as 0.04 mmol or 1.8 mg of CO2. We estimate that this method allows for the screening of at least 30-96 sorbents (in triplicate) or 90-264 sorbents (singles) per day, representing at least a 90-3000 times reduction in the time required for equivalent analysis.