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17~-
o /
- J
7 2.0
;o/j
-4
>o
~ 580
,s,s0 7 J
,o-loo ~ #~ ~
heating the same bayerite, as above, at 250°C. From the slope of the first
part of the t-plot follows St = 483 m.2/g. (SBET ---- 489 m.2/g.). Between
the t-values of 4 A and 5 A all narrow slit-shaped pores, which are responsi-
ble for this high value of surface area, are apparently filled; the new slope
indicates a surface area of about 20 m.2/g, for the surface area of wider
pores and the outer surface.
These examples may suffice to show the significance of the deviations
from the straight t-plot. Other combinations may be found; in many cases
a downward deviation indicating a closing of capillaries which, because of
their size and shape, do not give capillary condensation in the adsorption
branch (slit-shaped pores with parallel walls) may later be followed by an
upward deviation indicating capillary condensation in wider pores (in the
same elementary particles or as "stacking pores" between those particles),
etc. Together with the shape and the position of a hysteresis loop, the
t-method may give a rather useful picture of the pore texture of micro-
porous substances.
In some cases one may find pores of such narrow dimensions that a
normal BET-plot gives erroneous results. A t-plot does not give a straight
line through the origin in such cases, but yields lines cutting the zero
relative pressure at positive values. The slope of the line drawn from the
origin to the first experimental point at the lowest relative pressure gives
then a lowest value of the surface area. This method yields extremely
useful results with regard to the study of the texture of carbon blacks (6)
THE t-CURYE OF MULTIMOLECULAR N2-ADSORI:'TION 409
where x = p/po gives, when c = 53 and k = 0.76, a good fit with the ex-
perimental curve. (The value of V,~ derived from an Anderson plot is always
higher than the corresponding figure from a BET-plot; in our case it is a
factor 1.16.)
This result, however, has no physical significance. In Anderson's con-
ception k < 1 means that the heat of adsorption of the second and higher
layers is less than the heat of liquefaction--a condition which is even less
favorable for multimolecular adsorption than the B E T conception itself,
according to which the heat of adsorption of the second and higher layer
equals the heat of liquefaction. In the B E T theory a picture is chosen
which gives a high figure of combinatorial entropy because attraction forces
between neighbor molecules in the various layers are excluded. As 5/IcMillan
and Teller (8) have shown this means that the surface tension of the liquid
is neglected; when the real surface tension is introduced hardly any multi-
molecular adsorption occurs when the heat of adsorption of the second and
higher layers is not higher than the heat of liquefaction (9).
Starting from the conception of the condensed (liquid) character of the
mu]timolecular adsorbed film and from an empirical equation of state for
condensed films, Harkins and Jura (10) derived in 1944 a simple equation
A
log x = B - (Va)----~, [3]
where again x = p/po, Va is the adsorbed volume, and A and B are con-
stants. Our experimental curve A of Fig. 1 can excellently be described by
this equation for all values of x between 0.1 and 0.75, as is shown in Fig. 4,
where we compare the experimental values of t with those calculated with
the equation:
13.99
log x = 0.034 -- t--V- [3a]
3£
/
2.C
I.C-
E
>u
c-
I ~ I i I I I I ~
0 0,1 0,2 0,3 0,4 0,5 0,6 Q7 0,8 0,9 1,0
~.m~.,..--- P/Po
According to ttarkins and Jura, the specific surface area can be derived
with the equation
S = ~/A. [4]
With N2 as an adsorbent at liquid ni£rogen temperature, and expressing
THE t-CURVE OF MULTIMOLECULAR N2-ADSORPTION 411
1C
-3,0
I
d
S
8-
=2.0
6-
~z
I
4-
-1.0 ×
.c
¢
I I l I J l I [ I
0 0.1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 0.6 Q7 Q8 Q9 1.0
~-I~,-,,,- P/Po
FIG. 4. The isotherm equation of Harkins and Jura, fitted to the experimental
points of the universal t-curve.
412 DE BOE~ ET AL.
Va in milliliters STP per gram and S in square meters per gram, they found
k = 4.06.
When we combine Eqs. [3b] and [4] with [1], we obtain:
k = 4.14.
In a study about the relationship between the B E T equation and the
equation of ttarkins and Jura, Livingston (11) concluded that, in a range
of relative pressures between 0.07 and 0.72, both equations may fit experi-
mental data equally well, if the value of c in the B E T equation is chosen
between c = 50 and c = 100. Later in his paper, however, it is clearly
stated that Emmett's (12) calculations, showing that both equations may
cover an experimental plot between p/po = 0.11 and p/Po = 0.40 (for
c-values between 25 and 250), are correct. In the present section of this
article we come to the conclusion that the Anderson equation (one more
constant than the B E T equation) and the Harkins and Jura equation cover
our experimental master curve equally well for a long range of relative
pressures.
known for relative pressures between 0.10 and 0.75, can be expressed in
terms of an average thickness of the adsorbed layer (the t-curve).
When experimental adsorption data on microporous adsorbents are
plotted as a function of this t-curve, the t-plot obtained gives direct in-
formation about the specific area, the capillary condensation, the width
of pores, etc.
Two equations m a y describe the t-curve more or less adequately; the
theoretical nonsignificance or significance of this is discussed.
REFERENCES
1. DE BOER, J. H., LINSEN, B. G., AND OSINGA,TH. J., J. Catalysis, 4, 643 (1965).
2. LIPPE~S, B. C., LINSEN, B. G., AND DE BOER, J. H., J. Catalysis 3, 32 (1964).
3. LIPPENS, B. C., AND DE BOER, J. H., J. Catalysis 4,319 (1965).
4. DE BO~.R, J. H., AND LIPPENS, B. C., J. Catalysis 3, 38 (1964).
5. LIPPENS, B. C., AND DE BOER, J. H., J. Catalysis 3, 44 (1964).
6. DE BOER, ft. H., LINSEN, B. G., VAN DER PLAS, TH., ~ND ZOI~DERVAN,G. J., J.
Catalysis, 4, 649 (1965).
7. ANDERSON,R. B., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 68,686 (1946).
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also ttlLL, T. L., Advan. Catalysis 4,236-242 (1952).
9. HALSE:f, G. D., Advan. Catalysis 4,263,264 (1952).
10. HARKINS,W. D., AND JURA, G., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 66, 1366 (1944).
11. LIVINGSTON,H. K., J. Chem. Phys. 15,617 (1947).
12. EMMETT, P. H., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 68, 1784 (1946).
13. HIT.L, T. L., Advan. Catalysis 4,236-242 (1952).
14. nE BOER, J. It., Proc. Roy. Acad. Amsterdam 31,906 (1928).
])E BOER, J. H., AND ZWI•KER, C., Z. Physik. Chem. (Frankfurt) 3B, 407 (1929).
15. DE BOER, J. H., "The Dynamical Character of Adsorption," pp. 153, 154.
Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1953.
16. Ross, S., AND OLIVlER, J. P., "On Physical Adsorption," pp. 227-231. Inter-
science Publishers, New York, 1964.
17. HARKINS,W. D., AND JURA, G., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 66, 1362 (1944).
18. DE BOER, J. H., HOUBEN, G. M. M., LIPPENS, B. C., MEYS, W. I-I., ANDWALRAVE,
W. •. A., J. Catalysis 1, 1 (1962).