Thermal analyses were used to study the loading and the affinity of organic
adsorbates on siliceous ferrierite type zeolite, which possesses perfect f
ramework and high hydrophobic character after calcination for removing the
template in the as-synthesized form. Twenty organic compounds with various
functional groups, i.e., n-butane, n-pentane, n-hexane, n-heptane, methanol
, ethanol, 1-propanol, 1-butanol, methylamine, ethylamine, n-propylamine, n
-butylamine, formic acid, acetic acid, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, diethyl
ether, acetone, methyl formate, and ethyl formate, were investigated as the
adsorbate. The A(T) index, defined as the value of T-desorption -T-bp, was
determined and used to compare the affinity of the organic compounds towar
d the zeolite. Organic molecules containing frameworkphilic functional grou
ps such as alkylamines show high A(T) values. The oxygen-containing framewo
rkphobic functional groups such as alcohols and organic acids show lower A(
T) values. The effect of other functional groups and the chain length of th
e alkyl group on the affinity are discussed. Compared with the data on high
silica MFI and FAU zeolites, the A(T) values exhibit the same tendency for
organics with the same functional groups. The influence of pore size and c
onfiguration of the zeolites on the A(T) values of various organic compound
s adsorbed is discussed.