Low-pressure argon adsorption assessment of micropore connectivities in activated carbons.

Low-pressure argon adsorption has been used to study the energetic distribution of microporous activated carbons differing by their burn-off. The collected isotherms were analyzed using the derivative isotherm summation method. Some oscillations on the experimental curves for very low partial pressures were detected. The results are analyzed and discussed according to the literature and could be attributed to local overheating caused by spontaneous mass transfer of argon through constrictions between former pores and the new opening pore or deadend pores. We used the dynamic character of the experimental method and mainly the discrepancy of the quasi-equilibrium state to deduce key parameters related to the porosity topology.

Water vapor adsorption on activated carbon preadsorbed with naphtalene.

The adsorption of water vapor on a microporous activated carbon derived from the carbonization of coconut shell has been studied. Preadsorption of naphthalene was used as a tool to determine the location and the influence of the primary adsorbing centers within the porous structure of active carbon. The adsorption was studied in the pressure range p/p0=0-0.95 in a static water vapor system, allowing the investigation of both kinetic and equilibrium experimental data. Modeling of the isotherms using the modified equation of Do and Do was applied to determine the effect of preadsorption on the mechanism of adsorption.