BET-method

Nitrogen is the most widely used absorbent (at 77 K) for the BET method and has been employed almost universally. Argon is more suited to the measurement of microporous zeolites. Krypton may be used for the... 

Numerous vapours besides nitrogen have been used from time to time for the determination of surface area by the BET method. These include argon,... 

The BET method for calculation of specific surface A involves two steps evaluation of the monolayer capacity n from the isotherm, and conversion of n into A by means of the molecular area a . 

The degree of uncertainty of 10 per cent or more, inseparable from estimates of specific surface from adsorption isotherms, even those of nitrogen, may seem disappointing. In fact, however, attainment of this level of accuracy is a notable achievement in a field where, prior to the development of the BET method, even the order of magnitude of the specific surface of highly disperse solids was in doubt. The adsorption method still provides the only means of determining the specific surface of a mass of non-... 

It follows therefore that the specific surface of a mesoporous solid can be determined by the BET method (or from Point B) in just the same way as that of a non-porous solid. It is interesting, though not really surprising, that monolayer formation occurs by the same mechanism whether the surface is wholly external (Type II isotherm) or is largely located on the walls of mesopores (Type IV isotherm). Since the adsorption field falls off fairly rapidly with distance from the surface, the building up of the monolayer should not be affected by the presence of a neighbouring surface which, as in a mesopore, is situated at a distance large compared with the size of a molecule. 

The results of a comparison between values of n estimated by the DRK and BET methods present a con. used picture. In a number of investigations linear DRK plots have been obtained over restricted ranges of the isotherm, and in some cases reasonable agreement has been reported between the DRK and BET values. Kiselev and his co-workers have pointed out, however, that since the DR and the DRK equations do not reduce to Henry s Law n = const x p) as n - 0, they are not readily susceptible of statistical-thermodynamic treatment. Moreover, it is not easy to see how exactly the same form of equation can apply to two quite diverse processes involving entirely diiferent mechanisms. We are obliged to conclude that the significance of the DRK plot is obscure, and its validity for surface area estimation very doubtful. 

A vast amount of research has been undertaken on adsorption phenomena and the nature of solid surfaces over the fifteen years since the first edition was published, but for the most part this work has resulted in the refinement of existing theoretical principles and experimental procedures rather than in the formulation of entirely new concepts. In spite of the acknowledged weakness of its theoretical foundations, the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) method still remains the most widely used procedure for the determination of surface area similarly, methods based on the Kelvin equation are still generally applied for the computation of mesopore size distribution from gas adsorption data. However, the more recent studies, especially those carried out on well defined surfaces, have led to a clearer understanding of the scope and limitations of these methods furthermore, the growing awareness of the importance of molecular sieve carbons and zeolites has generated considerable interest in the properties of microporous solids and the mechanism of micropore filling. 

In writing the present book our aim has been to give a critical exposition of the use of adsorption data for the evaluation of the surface area and the pore size distribution of finely divided and porous solids. The major part of the book is devoted to the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) method for the determination of specific surface, and the use of the Kelvin equation for the calculation of pore size distribution but due attention has also been given to other well known methods for the estimation of surface area from adsorption measurements, viz. those based on adsorption from solution, on heat of immersion, on chemisorption, and on the application of the Gibbs adsorption equation to gaseous adsorption. 

It would be difficult to over-estimate the extent to which the BET method has contributed to the development of those branches of physical chemistry such as heterogeneous catalysis, adsorption or particle size estimation, which involve finely divided or porous solids in all of these fields the BET surface area is a household phrase. But it is perhaps the very breadth of its scope which has led to a somewhat uncritical application of the method as a kind of infallible yardstick, and to a lack of appreciation of the nature of its basic assumptions or of the circumstances under which it may, or may not, be expected to yield a reliable result. This is particularly true of those solids which contain very fine pores and give rise to Langmuir-type isotherms, for the BET procedure may then give quite erroneous values for the surface area. If the pores are rather larger—tens to hundreds of Angstroms in width—the pore size distribution may be calculated from the adsorption isotherm of a vapour with the aid of the Kelvin equation, and within recent years a number of detailed procedures for carrying out the calculation have been put forward but all too often the limitations on the validity of the results, and the difficulty of interpretation in terms of the actual solid, tend to be insufficiently stressed or even entirely overlooked. And in the time-honoured method for the estimation of surface area from measurements of adsorption from solution, the complications introduced by... 

Surface Area. Overall catalyst surface area can be determined by the BET method mentioned eadier, but mote specific techniques are requited to determine a catalyst s active surface area. X-ray diffraction techniques can give data from which the average particle si2e and hence the active surface area may be calculated. Or, it may be necessary to find an appropriate gas or Hquid that will adsorb only on the active surface and to measure the extent of adsorption under controUed conditions. In some cases, it maybe possible to measure the products of reaction between a reactive adsorbent and the active site. Radioactively tagged materials are frequentiy usehil in this appHcation. Once a correlation has been estabHshed between either total or active surface area and catalyst performance (particulady activity), it may be possible to use the less costiy method for quaHty assurance purposes. 

Surface Area and Permeability or Porosity. Gas or solute adsorption is typicaUy used to evaluate surface area (74,75), and mercury porosimetry is used, ia coajuactioa with at least oae other particle-size analysis, eg, electron microscopy, to assess permeabUity (76). Experimental techniques and theoretical models have been developed to elucidate the nature and quantity of pores (74,77). These iaclude the kinetic approach to gas adsorptioa of Bmaauer, Emmett, and TeUer (78), known as the BET method and which is based on Langmuir s adsorption model (79), the potential theory of Polanyi (25,80) for gas adsorption, the experimental aspects of solute adsorption (25,81), and the principles of mercury porosimetry, based on the Young-Duprn expression (24,25). 

Surface Areas by the Brunauer, Emmett and Teller BET Method... 

ITie BET method is the most widely used procedure for determining the surface area of porous materials. In this chapter, BET results were obtained from single point measurements using a Micromeritics Flowsorb II 2300 surface area analyzer. A mixture of nitrogen in helium (30 70 mole percentage) was used. Although this simple method is not quantitative for the microporous materials studied in section 5, it still allows qualitative comparisons to be made. 

The adsorption of gas onto a solid surface can also be used to estimate surface energy. Both inverse gas chromatography (IGC) and isotherm measurement using the BET method [19] have been used. Further discussion and detailed references are given by Lucic et al. [20] who compare the application of IGC, BET and contact angle methods for characterising the surface energies of stearate-coated calcium carbonate fillers. 

Niobium oxide obtained by plasma chemical decomposition is an ultra-fine powder with a specific surface area, as determined by the BET method, of about 20-30 m2/g. The estimated average particle size does not exceed 0.1 pm. 

The major gaseous components were analyzed by a gas chromatograph equipped with a TCD and a molecular sieve 13X column. The specific surface areas of carbon produced were measured by the BET method(ASAP 2010, Micromeritics). The morphology and particle size of the formed carbon were investigated by the scanning electron microscopy(S-4200, Hitachi... 

The AC used in this study was a granular type (30 35 mesh) prepared from coconut shell. The purified AC (PAC) was prepared by boiling the AC for 5 hr in a water bath. The acidic and alkaline solutions for preparation of MACs were made with HNO3 (NA), H2SO4 (SA), HCl (HA), H3PO4 (PA), CH3COOH (AA), KOH (PH), and NaOH (SH). The AC was modified into each solution according to the conventional wet process. The specific surface area of the adsorbents was measured by BET method (ASAP 2020, Micrometries, USA). 

The BET method has its limitations and several improvements exist, but these are beyond the scope of our treatment. We note that the BET isotherm is valid under the following assumptions ... 

For a supported metal catalyst, the BET method yields the total surface area of support and metal. If we perform our measurements in the chemisorption domain, for example with H2 or CO at room temperature, adsorption is limited to the metallic phase, providing a way to determine the dispersion of the supported phase. 

The area of the synthesized material is measured using the BET method of adsorbing molecular N2, and the following data were obtained at liquid N2 temperature. The equilibrium pressure under those conditions is Pq = 773.81 torr and the catalyst sample weighs 24.9 mg. 

It has been found that a plot of pg / Vg [1-pgl vs pg is hnear for the pressure range of 0.05 to 0.4, with aslope of (C - 1) / (Vmono C ) and intercept of 1/ (Vmono C ). Let us now do a simple calculation using BEH data obtained. Suppose we have a 20 gm. sample having a density of 2.0. We measure the surface area as 6 m. From the area of a sphere. A = r d2, and the volume of a sphere, V = 4/37tD3., we find the total volume of n spheres to be 10 cc, i.e.- n 4/3 r D = 10. The surface area of n 7rD2 spheres is 6 m3. The total number of spheres present, n, is the same in both formulas. Therefore, by substitution, we find D= 10 p. If we obtain a particle diameter by some other method and find that it is mueh smaller than that of the BET method, we infer that the peatieles are porous. We thus speak of the porosity and need to correct for the pore surface area if we are to meike a reasonable estimate of the true diameter by the BET method. 

The specific surface areas of the samples were measured by the single point BET method (p/pQ=0.3). 

Specific surface areas of the catalysts used were determined by nitrogen adsorption (77.4 K) employing BET method via Sorptomatic 1900 (Carlo-Erba). X-ray difiraction (XRD) patterns of powdered catalysts were carried out on a Siemens D500 (0 / 20) dififactometer with Cu K monochromatic radiation. For the temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) experiments the catalyst (0.3 g) was pre-treated at diflferent temperatures (100-700 °C) under helium flow (5-20 Nml min ) in a micro-catalytic tubular reactor for 3 hours. The treated sample was exposed to methanol vapor (0.01-0.10 kPa) for 2 hours at 260 °C. The system was cooled at room temperature under helium for 30 minutes and then heated at the rate of 4 °C min . Effluents were continuously analyzed using a quadruple mass spectrometer (type QMG420, Balzers AG). 

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