Chemical Research in Chinese Universities ›› 2014, Vol. 30 ›› Issue (6): 1066-1070.doi: 10.1007/s40242-014-4156-1

• Articles • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Crosslinked Polystyrene Beads Modified with Sulfonyl Groups and Their Application in Aromatic/Aliphatic Hydrocarbons Separation

YU Huanyang1,2, CAI Zhenzhen2, GUAN Jingjing3, SHI Zuosen2, CUI Zhanchen2   

  1. 1. College of Material Science and Engineering, Jilin Jianzhu University, Changchun 130118, P. R. China;
    2. State Key Laboratory of Supramolecular Structure and Materials, College of Chemistry, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, P. R. China;
    3. Department of Urology, the First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun 130021, P. R. China
  • Received:2014-04-25 Revised:2014-07-21 Online:2014-12-01 Published:2014-08-04
  • Contact: CUI Zhanchen E-mail:cuizc@jlu.edu.cn
  • Supported by:

    Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.21204028, 51173063).

Abstract:

The separation of aromatic hydrocarbons from aromatic/aliphatic mixtures was investigated with cross- linked polystyrene(CPS) beads modified with sulfonyl groups. Three sulfonating agents, i.e. benzenesulfonyl chloride(BsCl), 4-toluene sulfonyl chloride(TsCl) and methanesulfonyl chloride(MsCl) were used to prepare sulfonyl CPS beads by Friedel-Crafts reaction. The CPS beads modified with BsCl exhibited higher sulfonation rate than those modified with MsCl and TsCl and obtained optimum selectivity in the experiments of toluene/n-heptane separation. Further separation tests with various other aromatic/aliphatic mixtures were carried out at an initial aromatic concentration of 13%(mass fraction) with the results showing that the modified beads have preferential selectivity for aromatic hydrocarbons in all aromatic/aliphatic mixtures, and especially a separation factor of 8.21 and a swelling ratio of 30% for toluene/cyclohexane system. The thermal stability and regeneration test indicate that the used polystyrene beads can be recovered through heat-drying and reused effectively.

Key words: Separation, Sulfonyl, Polystyrene, Swelling, Modification