Adsorption of Gas on a Solid Surface

The solid surface interacts with gases or liquids in various phenomena. The adsorption of gas on a solid surface has been known to be of much importance in various systems (especially in industries involved with catalysis). The molecules in gas are moving very fast, but on adsorption (gas molecules are more or less fixed), there will be a large decrease in kinetic energy (thus, a decrease in entropy, AS). Adsorption takes place spontaneously, 

The adsorption of gas can be of different types. The gas molecule may adsorb as a kind of condensation process it may under other circumstances react with the solid surface (chemical adsorption or chemisorption). In the case of chemiadsorption, a chemical bond formation can almost be expected. On carbon, while oxygen adsorbs (or chemisorbs), one can desorb CO or C02. Experimental data can provide information on the type of adsorption. On porous solid surfaces, the adsorption may give rise to capillary condensation. This indicates that porous solid surfaces will exhibit some specific properties. Catalytic reactions (e.g., formation of NH3 from N2 and Hj) give the most adsorption process in industry. 

The surface of a solid may differ in many ways from its bulk composition. Especially, such solids as commercial carbon black may contain minor amounts of impurities (such as aromatics, phenol, carboxylic acid). This would render surface adsorption characteristics different from that of pure carbon. It is therefore essential that, in industrial production, quality control of the surface from different production batch is maintained. Otherwise, the surface properties will affect the application. Another example arises from the behavior of glass powder and its adsorption character for proteins. It has been found that if glass powder is left exposed to the 

O-Si-O as well as hydroxyl groups formed with water molecules. The orientation of the different groups may also be different at the surface. 

Carbon black has been reported to possess different kinds of surface chemical groups. These are aromatics, phenol, carboxylic, etc. The different sites can be estimated by comparing the adsorption characteristics of different adsorbents (such as hexane and toluene). 

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An equation of the form of Eq. (2.32) was given by Langmuir (Carberry, 1976) for the treatment of data from the adsorption of gas on a solid surface. If the Michaelis-Menten equation is applicable, the Langmuir plot will result in a straight line, and the slope will be equal to l/rmax. The intercept will be KM/rmax, as shown in Figure 2.5. 

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