Activated carbon was impregnated with 34.57% SnCl2. 2H(2)O salt and then dr
ied at 180 degrees C to produce AC-SnO2 to improve its adsorptive interacti
on with CO. Besides the fact that activated carbon has its original differe
nt pore sizes for normal gas phase CO adsorption (as in the case of pure ca
rbon), the impregnated carbon has additional CO adsorption ability due to t
he presence of O-(ads) on the active sites. AC-SnO2 proved to be a superior
adsorber of CO than pure carbon when used for H-2 purification in a PSA sy
stem. Discernibly, the high adsorptive selectivity of AC-SnO2 towards gas p
hase CO portrays a good future for the applicability of this noble adsorben
t, since CO has become: a notorious threat to the global ecosystem due to t
he current level of air pollution. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All right
s reserved.