First-Order Kinetics in Adsorption and Catalysis

Carisma, Nikko Angelo S.

PYSCHE2 N02
11528125, BSBCHEM
Development of a first-order kinetics-based model for the adsorption of nickel onto peat
The first study, by Liu et al. (2009), looked into the ability of nickel to bind to peat, a heterogeneous mixture of
decomposed plant material that has accumulated in a water-rich environment, but with the absence of oxygen.
In particular, they were studying the kinetics of adsorption, where atoms adhere to a surface; as nickel cations
are environmentally mobile, and toxic, this process was looked into as a means of evaluating the potential of
removing nickel from aqueous solutions such as wastewater. Radioactive nickel was used for adsorption
experiments, with radioactivity used as determinants of concentration. Among other calculations, theoretical
models used in the study involved first-order forward, reverse rate constants and some first-order rate
equations used to describe the kinetic parameters of nickel sorption onto peat at different pH levels, from 2.0
to 7.0. Data was then used to create a potential equation describing the Ni adsorption from kinetic parameters.
Results from the study showed that the equilibrium constant K, the ratio of the forward rate constant to the
ratio for the reverse rate constant, increased with higher pH levels.

Synthesis of Ibuprofen intermediate using alcoholic silver nanoparticles and its kinetics: A greener
approach towards drug synthesis
The second study by Pawar et al. (2017), the use of silver nanoparticles were studied for catalytic activity,
particularly for catalytic reduction of of 1-(4-isobutylphenyl)ethanone (4-IBPEON) to 1-(4-
isobutylphenyl)ethanol (4-IBPE).One of the motivations of this study was the importance of 4-IBPE as an
intermediate in the synthesis of Ibuprofen, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug or NSAID. In one part of the
study, pseudo-first order rate constants were determined for the model reduction reaction of 4-nitrophenol to
4-aminophenol through catalysis with the silver nanoparticles at different temperatures, ranging from 298 K to
323 K. From the data, the Arrhenius parameters were also calculated. The reaction mechanism used to explain
the reaction is shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Schematic reaction mechanism: reduction of 4-IBPEON to 4-IBPE in the presence of AgNPs (Pawar et
al., 2017).

Reactions were monitored through UV-Vis absorbance measurements and first-order kinetic linearization was
performed by plotting ln(A0/At) as a function of time. Aside from the rate constant measurement, 4-IBPE was
shown to be successfully synthesized, with a potential for more environmentally friendly methods of Ibuprofen
synthesis, as these nanoparticles can help reduce wastes produced in such industrial processes.

As described in both studies, a common component within their methods involved the use of first-order kinetics,
generally to describe the effectivity of the studied process—adsoprtion for the first study, and catalysis for the
second study. The first study notably linked kinetic rate constants to an equilibrium constant, through
theoretical calculations. On the other hand, the second study used empirical data from UV-Vis measurements
to confirm if the reaction the silver nanoparticles catalyzed followed first-order kinetics. Through the results of
the two studies, and landmark studies on first-order kinetics, patterns and behaviors of reactions and
processes may now be predicted, and even experimentally confirmed.