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What is the correct form of BET isotherm for modeling liquid phase adsorption?

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Abstract

In this work subtleties of application of BET isotherm for liquid phase adsorption is presented. It has been shown that direct use of the classical BET equation (which was developed for gas phase adsorption) to liquid phase adsorption leads to ambiguous and erroneous results. Some cases of misuse of BET equation for liquid phase adsorption have been revisited. By close examination of the development of the classical equation, the causes of misunderstandings were elucidated and the suitable form of the BET equation for liquid phase adsorption was developed. As case studies, the classical form of the BET equation along with the correct form of the equation for liquid phase have been applied for modeling liquid phase adsorption of methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) on perfluorooctyl alumina, phenol on activated carbon and pentachlorophenol on carbonized bark. It has been shown that direct application of the classical BET isotherm to liquid phase adsorption results in poor and erroneous estimation of the equation parameters. For example, in aqueous phase adsorption of MTBE on perfluorooctyl alumina, the monolayer adsorption capacity of the adsorbent was calculated as 9.7 mg/g instead of 3.3 mg/g or the saturation concentration of MTBE in water was calculated as 1212 mg/L instead of 42000 mg/L.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chemical Engineering Department, Sahand University of Technology, Tabriz, P.O. Box 51335-1996, Iran

    Amanollah Ebadi & Anvar Khudiev

  2. Chemical Engineering Department, University of Saskatchewan, 57 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 5A9, Canada

    Jafar S. Soltan Mohammadzadeh

Authors
  1. Amanollah Ebadi
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  2. Jafar S. Soltan Mohammadzadeh
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  3. Anvar Khudiev
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Correspondence to Jafar S. Soltan Mohammadzadeh.

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Ebadi, A., Soltan Mohammadzadeh, J.S. & Khudiev, A. What is the correct form of BET isotherm for modeling liquid phase adsorption?. Adsorption 15, 65–73 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10450-009-9151-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10450-009-9151-3

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