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Preparation of modified γ-alumina as stationary phase in gas–solid chromatography and its separation performance for hydrogen isotopes

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Abstract

On the basis of impregnation method, several stationary phases were prepared using γ-Al2O3 with the solution of transition metal salts and the breakthrough curves of gas chromatograph for H2 isotopes were analyzed under the temperature of liquid nitrogen. The effects of carrier gas, flow rate and doping concentration on the separation performance for H2 and D2 were systematically investigated. The overall results showed that the surface areas and adsorptive capacities of modified γ-Al2O3 were slightly lower than unmodified one while the separation performance and symmetry of chromatographic peaks of the former were more excellent. In addition, the chromatographic peaks of ortho- and para-H2 were no longer separated and the retention time shortened to half on columns of modified γ-Al2O3. All the magnetic transition metal ions modified γ-Al2O3 did very well for the separation of H2/D2 under the conditions of neon as carrier gas with a flow rate of 60 mL/min and column lengths of 1.0 m and injection amounts of 0.1 mL. Especially, the MnCl2 modified γ-Al2O3 exhibited the best performance for separating H2/D2 with an optimum doping concentration of 20 wt%.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank financial supports from the “Hundred Talents Program” of Chinese Academy of Science (No. KJCX2-YW-W34) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 21073216, 21173246). We also thank Prof. Yi Wang worked at School of Applied Physics and Materials, Wuyi University, for his assistance on Raman spectra measurements.

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  1. Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, 266101, People’s Republic of China

    Jinjun Cai, Yanlong Xing, Menglong Yang & Xuebo Zhao

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  1. Jinjun Cai
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Correspondence to Xuebo Zhao.

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Cai, J., Xing, Y., Yang, M. et al. Preparation of modified γ-alumina as stationary phase in gas–solid chromatography and its separation performance for hydrogen isotopes. Adsorption 19, 919–927 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10450-013-9499-2

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