Silver-exchanged zeolites are the
most efficient materials
for
xenon adsorption at pressures in the ppm levels. It is widely accepted
that silver moieties constitute the active phase in the adsorption.
Among them, ZSM-5 appears to be the most efficient topology owing
to its pore size and geometry. In this study, we fully exchanged seven
different sodium-form zeolites (four ZSM-5, two BEA, and one MOR)
to silver-form, characterized them, and compared their xenon adsorption
capacities. Modeling the isotherms with a double-site Sips model allowed
a quantitative comparison of their performances. The results confirmed
a linear trend between the concentration of strong adsorption sites
and the silver amount contained in the ZSM-5 and BEA zeolites. At
the same time, it revealed that silver-exchanged MOR deviates from
that trend and generates xenon adsorption sites in a higher-pressure
range. Moreover, the 27Al NMR measurements displayed a
clear linear correlation between the amount of strong, silver-based,
adsorption sites and the amount of exchangeable, framework aluminum-based,
sites. Overall, this study revealed that an increase in the silver
content leads to an increase in strong adsorption sites in a pressure
range that depends on the zeolite structure. In addition, the tetra-coordination
of aluminum must be checked to guarantee a high silver loading in
pentasil-based zeolites.