Investigation of Hydrogen Sulfide Adsorption in Metallic Scaffold Mof-5 Nanocomposite Based on Activated Carbon for the Use of Respiratory Mask Cartridge



Kakaei H^{1, 3} ; Beygzadeh M² ; Golbabaei F³ ; Ganjali MR⁴ ; Jahangiri M⁵ ; Shahtaheri SJ³ Show Affiliations
Source: Journal of Health and Safety at Work Published:2019

Abstract

Introduction: Hydrogen sulfide is one of the most important impurities in natural gas. Since this gas is hazardous, toxic, corrosive and volatile, therefore, the removal of hydrogen sulfide has been studied using several methods. In the present study, activated carbon and activated carbon-based composite scaffolds (MOF-5) were used as a cartridge mask to remove hydrogen sulfide from respiratory air. Material and Methods: Activated carbon (AC) was converted to powder form by ball mill, and AC / MOF-5 composite with 10%, 25%, and 40% MOF-5 / AC was synthesized from the MOF-5 metal-organic scaffold. The rates of adsorption and breakthrough time were then tested using a designed setup. The Aeroqual S500 Direct-reading sensor with 0.01 ppm accuracy was applied to measure the exact amount of hydrogen sulfide gas. Results: The AC/MOF-5 composite showed higher adsorption and breakthrough time compare to the other adsorbents. The maximum adsorption (mg/gS) and breakthrough time (min) were related to AC/MOF-5(40 Wt. %)adsorbent with 60.41 mg/gS and 56.26 min. By adding more than 25% MOF-5 metal-metal scaffold to activated carbon, the amount of adsorption, breakthrough time, and pressure drop were increased. Conclusion: AC / MOF-5 composite adsorbent due to its porous structure, high specific surface area, and most importantly, having Zn-O-C groups increased the adsorption rate as well as the pollutant breakthrough time. However, it showed a relatively higher pressure drop than commercial activated carbon (AC). © 2019, Tehran University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved.