Copper loaded on sol-gel-derived alumina adsorbents for phosphine removal.

The hydride gas of phosphine (PH3) is commonly used for semiconductor and optoelectronic industries. The local scrubbers must immediately abate it because of its high toxicity. In this study, copper (Cu) loaded on the sol-gel-derived gamma-alumina (Al2O3) adsorbents are prepared and tested to investigate the possibility of PH3 removal and sorbent regeneration. Test results showed that during the breakthrough time of over 99% PH3 removal efficiency, the maximum adsorption capacity of Cu loaded on the sol-gel-derived gamma-Al2O3 adsorbent is 18 mg-PH3/g-adsorbent. This is much higher than that of Cu loaded on the commercial gamma-Al2O3 adsorbent--8.6 mg-PH3/g-adsorbent. The high specific surface area, narrow pore size distribution, and well dispersion of Cu loaded on the sol-gel-derived gamma-Al2O3 could be the reasons for its high PH3 adsorption capacity. The regeneration test shows that Cu loaded on the sol-gel-derived gamma-Al2O3 adsorbent can be regenerated after a simple air purging procedure. The cumulative adsorption capacity for five regeneration cycles is 65 mg-PH3/g-adsorbent, which is approximately double that of the Cu/zeolite adsorbent demonstrated in the literature.