Thesis (M.Sc.)--Chulalongkorn University, 2009

Nanogold supported on amido-amidoxime functionalized silica (Au-Ami-SiO₂) was prepared by a simple mixing of amido-amidoxime functionalized silica in HAuCl₄ solution. Au-Ami-SiO₂ was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique and surface area analyzer. Toluene vapor adsorption on Au-Ami-SiO₂ was studied. The adsorption capacity was measured by a fixed bed system at ambient temperature using argon as carrier gas. The effects of contact time, flow rate and adsorbent dose on adsorption capacity were investigated. Adsorption capacity increased with increasing of contact time, and decreased with the increase in flow rate and adsorbent dose. The maximum adsorption capacity of 1.36 g g¯¹ was obtained at 45 min contact time, 40 mL min¯¹ flow rate and 0.05 g of adsorbent. Catalytic oxidation of toluene vapor using Au-Ami-SiO₂ was investigated under air atmosphere. The effects of reaction temperature and toluene concentration were investigated in two systems; (i) in the continuous system, reaction temperature and toluene concentration were studied in the range of 25 - 175 ℃ and 190 - 685 mg m¯³, respectively. The highest percentage removal was 53.06 ± 0.04 % at 685 mg m-3, at 175 ℃ and (ii) in the equilibrium system, the oxidation temperature was studied in the range of 25 - 275 ℃ with toluene concentration fixed at 685 mg m¯³, the highest percentage removal was 87.11 ± 0.15 % at 275 ℃. CO₂ appeared firstly