Homogeneous and heterogeneous micropore structures in carbonaceous adsorbents--twenty years later

Testing isotherm models and recovering empirical relationships for adsorption in microporous carbons using virtual carbon models and grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations

Using the plausible model of activated carbon proposed by Harris and co-workers and grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations, we study the applicability of standard methods for describing adsorption data on microporous carbons widely used in adsorption science. Two carbon structures are studied, one with a small distribution of micropores in the range up to 1 nm, and the other with micropores covering a wide range of porosity. For both structures, adsorption isotherms of noble gases (from Ne to Xe), carbon tetrachloride and benzene are simulated. The data obtained are considered in terms of Dubinin-Radushkevich plots. Moreover, for benzene and carbon tetrachloride the temperature invariance of the characteristic curve is also studied. We show that using simulated data some empirical relationships obtained from experiment can be successfully recovered. Next we test the applicability of Dubinin's related models including the Dubinin-Izotova, Dubinin-Radushkevich-Stoeckli, and Jaroniec-Choma equations. The results obtained demonstrate the limits and applications of the models studied in the field of carbon porosity characterization.

Corrected thermodynamic description of adsorption via formalism of the theory of volume filling of micropores

Based on the series of benzene adsorption and related enthalpy of adsorption data measured on porous carbons that possess various porous structures, we show that the creation of a solidlike structure in pores depends on the average pore diameter of an adsorbent. Taking into account the solidlike adsorbed phase in the thermodynamic description of the adsorption process via the formalism of the theory of volume filling of micropores (TVFM) leads to very good agreement between the data measured experimentally and those calculated from TVFM. Finally we show that the boundary between solidlike and liquidlike structures of benzene molecules in carbon pores is located around the average pore diameter, close to ca. 2.1-2.4 nm.

Determination of the quasi-saturated vapor pressure of supercritical gases in the adsorption potential theory application

Equilibrium data on supercritical N(2) and CH(4) adsorption on K02 activated carbon are presented in the temperature range 273-333 K and the pressure range 0-12 MPa. The adsorption potential theory was adopted to predict the adsorption equilibria of N(2) and CH(4) in the whole range utilizing a single experimental isotherm. The methods in literatures for calculating the quasi-saturated vapor pressure and the adsorbate density of supercritical gases have been investigated in detail. It is demonstrated that the predicting accuracy is considerably more sensitive to the quasi-saturated vapor pressure than to the adsorbate density. Moreover, for different adsorbates, the appropriate approach to the important quasi-saturated vapor pressure is various in the same experimental range. A new viewpoint, based on the relationship between the research temperature ranges and the critical temperatures of adsorbates, was proposed to determine the exact method for the quasi-saturated vapor pressure in the application of the adsorption potential theory.