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Questions tagged [adsorption]

The adhesion of atoms, ions, or molecules from a gas, liquid, or dissolved solid to a surface.

18 votes
5 answers
28k views

Why is Charcoal such an excellent adsorbent?

Charcoal (also activated charcoal) is known to adsorb a huge variety of substances including a variety of paints, dyes and many different kinds of ions. Moreover, the amount of adsorption at normal ...
stochastic13's user avatar
  • 6,795
15 votes
4 answers
1k views

Relative strength of desiccants

Is it meaningful to characterize the relative strength of desiccants? For example, is there a measure of hygroscopy, or an ordering of desiccants, such that higher ones will always dry lower ones? ...
feetwet's user avatar
  • 3,340
13 votes
1 answer
1k views

Reaction mechanism in fluoride adsorption to aluminum oxide

Despite a fair amount of research (excluding non-open access journals, to which I have not got access), I cannot seem to find an explanation of the process that takes place when $\ce{F^-}$ adsorbs to ...
Marcel's user avatar
  • 1,292
12 votes
1 answer
10k views

Is adsorption exothermic, and if so, why?

Why is adsorption exothermic? The explanation given in my textbook is: For a process to be spontaneous, the thermodynamic requirement is that, at constant temperature and pressure, $\Delta G &...
Aditya Dev's user avatar
  • 7,804
10 votes
6 answers
12k views

Why does chemisorption increase with rise in temperature, even though it is an exothermic process?

Chemisorption is exothermic process, but still it increases with increase in temperature. Why? I know that there needs to be a minimum activation energy to be achieved in order to initiate ...
MrObjectOriented's user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
1k views

Why are van der Waals' forces between gas molecules strong near its critical temperature?

My textbook says …easily liquefiable gases i.e. with higher critical temperatures are readily adsorbed as van der Waals' forces are stronger near the critical temperatures. What I do understand is ...
AdityaS's user avatar
  • 119
8 votes
1 answer
2k views

Catalysist activation energy - the Brønsted-Evans-Polanyi relation

I have stumbled upon something called the Brønsted-Evans-Polanyi relation in a study about the design of catalysts (for reactions like those in hydrocracking fuel production.) The relation shows that ...
Steeven's user avatar
  • 930
8 votes
1 answer
7k views

Plotting a Langmuir adsorption isotherm

We have, $$\theta = \frac{Kp_\mathrm a}{1+Kp_\mathrm a}$$ where, the fractional coverage $\theta$ is defined as the number of sites occupied by adsorbate $A$ over the total number of sites. $p_\...
getafix's user avatar
  • 8,495
8 votes
0 answers
249 views

New finding in cobalt compound that absorbs oxygen - is it really a breakthrough?

Very recently Chemical Sciences published results of the discovery of a new cobalt compound that can absorb oxygen at presumably a higher capacity than what has been achievable before. The paper is ...
docscience's user avatar
  • 2,773
7 votes
1 answer
399 views

Kinetics of interstellar chemistry: Applying steady state to formation of H₂

I am trying to solve problem 2 from the 2009 International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO), which is as follows: If two atoms collide in interstellar space the energy of the resulting molecule is so ...
1110101001's user avatar
  • 3,256
7 votes
1 answer
688 views

How does activated carbon trap impurities?

I've tried and I've tried to find an answer to this all over the web, but I can't seem to find an in depth explanation. To the best of my knowledge, activated carbon has a very microporous structure ...
Charlie's user avatar
  • 487
7 votes
1 answer
395 views

Chemical reactions involved in staining

I'm a geology student completing a project on chemical staining and was after some chemistry help on some of the reactions taking place. I am using various different stains to identify carbonate and ...
Matt's user avatar
  • 71
6 votes
1 answer
414 views

Why does Freundlich adsorption isotherm not have a term for surface area?

Why does Freundlich adsorption isotherm not have a term for surface area? The formula given by Freundlich adsorption isotherm: $$ \frac{x}{m}= k P ^{1/n}$$ Where $x$ is the mass of gas adsorbed ...
Mr.HiggsBoson's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
2k views

Why is Cyclodextrin cavity hydrophobic?

Actually this is going to be a list of interconnected questions. Please bear with me. Wikipedia article on cyclodextrin (CD) says that it is hydrophobic from inside. (1) How is it hydrophobic when ...
WYSIWYG's user avatar
  • 731
6 votes
1 answer
1k views

Interaction between a pencil and rubber (eraser)

Is there a interaction between a graphite pencil and and a eraser. For example, if I drew a line on a piece of paper and then erased that, what interaction is occurring? Is it a Van der Waals ...
MattB's user avatar
  • 77

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