The Solid-Gas Interface—General Considerations

These concluding chapters deal with various aspects of a very important type of situation, namely, that in which some adsorbate species is distributed between a solid phase and a gaseous one. From the phenomenological point of view, one observes, on mechanically separating the solid and gas phases, that there is a certain distribution of the adsorbate between them. This may be expressed, for example, as ria, the moles adsorbed per gram of solid versus the pressure P. The distribution, in general, is temperature dependent, so the complete empirical description would be in terms of an adsorption function ria = f(P, T). 

While a thermodynamic treatment can be developed entirely in terms of f(P,T), to apply adsorption models, it is highly desirable to know on a per square centimeter basis rather than a per gram basis or, alternatively, to know B, the fraction of surface covered. In both the physical chemistry and the applied chemistry of the solid-gas interface, the specific surface area is thus of extreme importance. 

All gases below their critical temperature tend to adsorb as a result of general van der Waals interactions with the solid surface. In this case of physical adsorption, as it is called, interest centers on the size and nature of adsorbent-adsorbate interactions and on those between adsorbate molecules. There is concern about the degree of heterogeneity of the surface and with the extent to which adsorbed molecules possess translational and internal degrees of freedom. 

It has become increasingly appreciated in recent years that the surface stmc-ture of the adsorbent may be altered in the adsorption process. Qualitatively, 

Type of Adsorbate-Adsorbent Interaction Type of Adsorbent  

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