Kelvin equation, 5.21

Here, r is positive and there is thus an increased vapor pressure. In the case of water, P/ is about 1.001 if r is 10" cm, 1.011 if r is 10" cm, and 1.114 if r is 10 cm or 100 A. The effect has been verified experimentally for several liquids [20], down to radii of the order of 0.1 m, and indirect measurements have verified the Kelvin equation for R values down to about 30 A [19]. The phenomenon provides a ready explanation for the ability of vapors to supersaturate. The formation of a new liquid phase begins with small clusters that may grow or aggregate into droplets. In the absence of dust or other foreign surfaces, there will be an activation energy for the formation of these small clusters corresponding to the increased free energy due to the curvature of the surface (see Section IX-2). 

While Eq. III-18 has been verified for small droplets, attempts to do so for liquids in capillaries (where Rm is negative and there should be a pressure reduction) have led to startling discrepancies. Potential problems include the presence of impurities leached from the capillary walls and allowance for the film of adsorbed vapor that should be present (see Chapter X). There is room for another real effect arising from structural peiturbations in the liquid induced by the vicinity of the solid capillary wall (see Chapter VI). Fisher and Israelachvili [19] review much of the literature on the verification of the Kelvin equation and report confirmatory measurements for liquid bridges between crossed mica cylinders. The situation is similar to that of the meniscus in a capillary since Rm is negative some of their results are shown in Fig. III-3. Studies in capillaries have been reviewed by Melrose [20] who concludes that the Kelvin equation is obeyed for radii at least down to 1 fim. 

With the preceding introduction to the handling of surface excess quantities, we now proceed to the derivation of the third fundamental equation of surface chemistry (the Laplace and Kelvin equations, Eqs. II-7 and III-18, are the other two), known as the Gibbs equation. 

The Kelvin equation (Eq. HI-18), which gives the increase in vapor pressure for a curved surface and hence of small liquid drops, should also apply to crystals. Thus... 

Bikerman [179] has argued that the Kelvin equation should not apply to crystals, that is, in terms of increased vapor pressure or solubility of small crystals. The reasoning is that perfect crystals of whatever size will consist of plane facets whose radius of curvature is therefore infinite. On a molecular scale, it is argued that local condensation-evaporation equilibrium on a crystal plane should not be affected by the extent of the plane, that is, the crystal size, since molecular forces are short range. This conclusion is contrary to that in Section VII-2C. Discuss the situation. The derivation of the Kelvin equation in Ref. 180 is helpful. 

Most studies of the Kelvin effect have been made with salts—see Refs. 2-4. A complicating factor is that of the electrical double layer presumably present Knapp [3] (see also Ref. 6) gives the equation... 

Derive Eq. XVII-136. Derive from it the Kelvin equation (Eq. Ill-18). 

One might expect the frequency factor A for desorption to be around 10 sec (note Eq. XVII-2). Much smaller values are sometimes found, as in the case of the desorption of Cs from Ni surfaces [133], for which the adsorption lifetime obeyed the equation r = 1.7x 10 exp(3300// r) sec R in calories per mole per degree Kelvin). A suggested explanation was that surface diffusion must occur to desorption sites for desorption to occur. Conversely, A factors in the range of lO sec have been observed and can be accounted for in terms of strong surface orientational forces [134]. 

This equation describes the additional amount of gas adsorbed into the pores due to capillary action. In this case, V is the molar volume of the gas, y its surface tension, R the gas constant, T absolute temperature and r the Kelvin radius. The distribution in the sizes of micropores may be detenninated using the Horvath-Kawazoe method [19]. If the sample has both micropores and mesopores, then the J-plot calculation may be used [20]. The J-plot is obtained by plotting the volume adsorbed against the statistical thickness of adsorbate. This thickness is derived from the surface area of a non-porous sample, and the volume of the liquified gas. 

The equilibrium vapour pressure, P, over a curved surface is defined by tlie Kelvin equation... 

Numerous mathematical formulas relating the temperature and pressure of the gas phase in equilibrium with the condensed phase have been proposed. The Antoine equation (Eq. 1) gives good correlation with experimental values. Equation 2 is simpler and is often suitable over restricted temperature ranges. In these equations, and the derived differential coefficients for use in the Hag-genmacher and Clausius-Clapeyron equations, the p term is the vapor pressure of the compound in pounds per square inch (psi), the t term is the temperature in degrees Celsius, and the T term is the absolute temperature in kelvins (r°C -I- 273.15). 

If the adsorbent contains mesopores, capillary condensation will occur in each pore when the relative pressure reaches a value which is related to the radius of the pore by the Kelvin equation, and a Type IV isotherm will... 

Thomson s original equation is not suitable for direct application to adsorption data the form used by later workers, the Kelvin equation , is... 

As already indicated in Section 3.1, the study of mesoporous solids is closely bound up with the concept of capillary condensation and its quantitative expression in the Kelvin equation. This equation is, indeed, the basis of virtually all the various procedures for the calculation of pore size... 

As with all thermodynamic relations, the Kelvin equation may be arrived at along several paths. Since the occurrence of capillary condensation is intimately, bound up with the curvature of a liquid meniscus, it is helpful to start out from the Young-Laplace equation, the relationship between the pressures on opposite sides of a liquid-vapour interface. 

Equation (3.20) is conventionally termed the Kelvin equation. The tacit assumption is made at the integration stage that K is independent of pressure, i.e. that the liquid is incompressible. 

From the Kelvin equation it follows that the vapour pressure p over a concave meniscus must be less than the saturation vapour pressure p°. Consequently capillary condensation of a vapour to a liquid should occur within a pore at some pressure p determined by the value of r for the pore, and less than the saturation vapour pressure—always provided that the meniscus is concave (i.e. angle of contact <90°). 

It must always be borne in mind that when capillary condensation takes place during the course of isotherm determination, the pore walls are already covered with an adsorbed him, having a thickness t determined by the value of the relative pressure (cf. Chapter 2). Thus capillary condensation occurs not directly in the pore itself but rather in the inner core (Fig. 3.7). Consequently the Kelvin equation leads in the first instance to values of the core size rather than the pore size. The conversion of an r value to a pore size involves recourse to a model of pore shape, and also a knowledge of the angle of contact 0 between the capillary condensate and the adsorbed film on the walls. The involvement of 0 may be appreciated by consideration... 

Fig. 3.8 Relation between r of the Kelvin equation (Equation (3.20)) and the core radius r for a cylindrical pore with a hemispherical meniscus 6 is the angle of contact.

Now, in principle, the angle of contact between a liquid and a solid surface can have a value anywhere between 0° and 180°, the actual value depending on the particular system. In practice 6 is very difficult to determine with accuracy even for a macroscopic system such as a liquid droplet resting on a plate, and for a liquid present in a pore having dimensions in the mesopore range is virtually impossible of direct measurement. In applications of the Kelvin equation, therefore, it is almost invariably assumed, mainly on grounds of simplicity, that 0 = 0 (cos 6 = 1). In view of the arbitrary nature of this assumption it is not surprising that the subject has attracted attention from theoreticians. 

At the junction of the adsorbed film and the liquid meniscus the chemical potential of the adsorbate must be the resultant of the joint action of the wall and the curvature of the meniscus. As Derjaguin pointed out, the conventional treatment involves the tacit assumption that the curvature falls jumpwise from 2/r to zero at the junction, whereas the change must actually be a continuous one. Derjaguin put forward a corrected Kelvin equation to take this state of affairs into account but it contains a term which is difficult to evaluate numerically, and has aroused little practical interest. 

At the middle of the capillary where the eflect of the walls on chemical potential is negligible, the radius of curvature will be equal to r as calculated by the Kelvin equation (3.20) but it will become progressively larger as the wall is approached. 

In calculations of pore size from the Type IV isotherm by use of the Kelvin equation, the region of the isotherm involved is the hysteresis loop, since it is here that capillary condensation is occurring. Consequently there are two values of relative pressure for a given uptake, and the question presents itself as to what is the significance of each of the two values of r which would result from insertion of the two different values of relative pressure into Equation (3.20). Any answer to this question calls for a discussion of the origin of hysteresis, and this must be based on actual models of pore shape, since a purely thermodynamic approach cannot account for two positions of apparent equilibrium. 

The formation of a liquid phase from the vapour at any pressure below saturation cannot occur in the absence of a solid surface which serves to nucleate the process. Within a pore, the adsorbed film acts as a nucleus upon which condensation can take place when the relative pressure reaches the figure given by the Kelvin equation. In the converse process of evaporation, the problem of nucleation does not arise the liquid phase is already present and evaporation can occur spontaneously from the meniscus as soon as the pressure is low enough. It is because the processes of condensation and evaporation do not necessarily take place as exact reverses of each other that hysteresis can arise. 

These models, though necessarily idealized, are sufficiently close to the actual systems found in practice to enable useful conclusions to be drawn from a given Type IV isotherm as to the pore structure of a solid adsorbent. To facilitate the discussion, it is convenient to simplify the Kelvin equation by putting yVJRT = K, and on occasion to use the exponential form ... 

Thus, as pointed out by Cohan who first suggested this model, condensation and evaporation occur at difi erent relative pressures and there is hysteresis. The value of r calculated by the standard Kelvin equation (3.20) for a given uptake, will be equal to the core radius r,. if the desorption branch of the hysteresis loop is used, but equal to twice the core radius if the adsorption branch is used. The two values of should, of course, be the same in practice this is rarely found to be so. 

Use of the Kelvin equation for calculation of pore size distribution... 

Closer examination reveals however that the Brunauer method is not fundamentally distinct from methods based on the Kelvin equation. As pointed out by de Vleesschauwer, equations such as (3.52) are not really employed in the integral form, inasmuch as the aim is to evaluate the surface areas of successive groups of cores. In effect Equation (3.52) is used after adaptation to small rather than infinitesimal increments and becomes... 

Now the left-hand side of Equation (3.54) is equal to the hydraulic radius r of the group of cores (cf. Equation (3.49)) and the right-hand side by the Kelvin equation (cf. Equation (3.20)) is equal to rjl. Consequently,... 

---