A high-throughput experimental approach to screening gas sorption by liquids and solids

High-precision measurement of gas uptake from single or mixed feeds in solid and liquid sorbents traditionally requires time-consuming experimental procedures and/or complex and costly equipment. A simple and cost-effective headspace gas chromatography (HS-GC) approach for the fast, universal experimental screening of sorbents for gas uptake and/or determination of their real gas separation selectivity has been developed and is demonstrated for pressures up to 2500 mbar and temperatures above 30 °C. This method allows screening of solids and both volatile and nonvolatile liquid materials, physisorbents, and chemisorbents using both single and mixed permanent gases that can include CO₂, CH₄, H₂, and NH₃, for gas uptakes as low as 0.04 mmol or 1.8 mg of CO₂. We estimate that this method allows for the screening of at least 30–96 sorbents (in triplicate) or 90–264 sorbents (singles) per day, representing at least a 90–3000 times reduction in the time required for equivalent analysis.