What is Adsorption?

Adsorption is the phenomenon of accumulation of large number of molecular species at the surface of
liquid or solid phase in comparison to the bulk.

How Adsorption occurs?

The process of adsorption arises due to presence of unbalanced or residual forces at the surface of
liquid or solid phase. These unbalanced residual forces have tendency to attract and retain the
molecular species with which it comes in contact with the surface. Adsorption is essentially a surface
phenomenon.
Adsorption is a term which is completely different from Absorption .While absorption means uniform
distribution of the substance throughout the bulk, adsorption essentially happens at the surface of the
substance. When both Adsorption and Absorption processes take place simultaneously, the process is
called sorption.
Adsorption process involves two components Adsorbent and Adsorbate. Adsorbent is the substance on
the surface of which adsorption takes place.Adsorbate is the substance which is being adsorbed on the
surface of adsorbent. Adsorbate gets adsorbed.
Some modern techniques have been used to study surface.
1. Low energy electron diffraction (LEED).
2. Photo electron spectroscopy (PES).
3. Scanning Tunneling microscopy (STM).

Adsorption in liquids

Adsorption can be understood by considering a simple example. In case of liquid state, water molecule
present on the surface is attracted inwards by the molecules of water present in the bulk. This gives
rise to surface tension. While the molecule of water present within the bulk is equally attracted from
all the sides and the net force experienced by the water molecule in bulk is zero. This clearly shows
that particles at surface and particles at the bulk are in different environment.

Water molecule on surface experiencing unbalanced forces as compared to molecule inside which
experiences forces from all direction.

Adsorption in solids
In case of solid state these residual forces arises because a of unbalanced valence forces of atoms at
the surface. The generation of these forces on solid surface can be explained diagrammatically as
follows:

Cleavage of a big crystal into smaller unit

Due to cleavage of a big crystal into smaller unit, residual forces or vacancies gets generated on the
surface of the solid. Occupancy of these vacancies by some other molecular species results into
Adsorption.

Facts about Adsorption Process

Adsorption is a spontaneous process
For reaction or process to be spontaneous, there must be decreases in free energy of the system i.e.
G of the system must have negative value.
Also we know, G = H TS
And during this process of adsorption, randomness of the molecule decreases which S is negative.
We can rewrite above equation as

Therefore for a reaction to be spontaneous H has to be negative and

Adsorption is an exothermic process

Adsorption process takes place by adsorbate getting adsorbed on adsorbent .Forces of attraction exist
between adsorbate and adsorbent and due to these forces of attraction, heat energy is released. So
adsorption is an exothermic process.

Types of Adsorption
Forces of attraction exist between adsorbate and adsorbent. These forces of attraction can be due to
Vanderwaal forces of attraction which are weak forces or due to chemical bond which are strong forces
of attraction. On the basis of type of forces of attraction existing between adsorbate and adsorbent,
adsorption can be classified into two types: Physical Adsorption or Chemical Adsorption.

Physical Adsorption or Physisorption

When the force of attraction existing between adsorbate and adsorbent are weak Vanderwaal forces of
attraction, the process is called Physical Adsorption or Physisorption. Physical Adsorption takes place
with formation of multilayer of adsorbate on adsorbent. It has low enthalpy of adsorption i.e.
Hadsorption is 20-40KJ/mol.

It takes place at low temperature below boiling point of adsorbate.As the temperature increases in,
process of Physisorption decreases.

Physical Adsorption vs. Temperature graph

Chemical Adsorption or Chemisorption

When the force of attraction existing between adsorbate and adsorbent are chemical forces of
attraction

or

chemical

bond,

the

process

is

called

Chemical

Adsorption

or

Chemisorption.

Chemisorption takes place with formation of unilayer of adsorbate on adsorbent. It has high enthalpy
of adsorption
i.e.

It can take place at all temperature. With the increases in temperature, Chemisorption first increases
and then decreases.

Chemical Adsorption vs. Temperature Graph

Adsorption Isotherm
The process of Adsorption is usually studied through graphs called as adsorption isotherm. It is the
graph between the amounts of adsorbate (x) adsorbed on the surface of adsorbent (m) and pressure
at constant temperature.

Applications of Adsorption
1. Charcoal is used as a decoloriser as it adsorbs the coloring matter from the coloured solution of
sugar.

Pic Credit : Link

2. Silica gel adsorbs moisture from the desiccators.

Pic Credit : Link

3. Silica and alumina gels are used as adsorbents for removing moisture and for controlling humidity
of rooms.

4. Activated charcoal is used in gas masks as it adsorbs all the toxic gases and vapours and purifies
the air for breathing.

Pic Credit : Link

5 .Adsorption processes are useful in carrying out heterogeneous catalysis.

Factors on which Adsorption Depends

Temperature
Adsorption increases at low temperature conditions.

Adsorption process is exothermic in nature. According to Le Chatleir principle, low temperature

conditions would favour the forward direction.

Pressure
As depicted by Adsorption Isotherm, with the increases in pressure, adsorption increases up to a
certain extent till saturation level is achieved. After saturation level is achieved no more adsorption
takes place no matter how high the pressure is applied.

Surface Area
Adsorption is a surface phenomenon therefore it increases with increase in surface area.

Activation of Adsorbent
Activation of adsorbent surface is done so as to provide more number of vacant sites on surface of
adsorbent. This can be done by breaking solid crystal in small pieces, heating charcoal at high
temperature, breaking lump of solid into powder or other methods suitable for particular adsorbent.

Surface Area of Adsorbent

As adsorption is a surface phenomenon, surface area offered by Adsorbent becomes important factor
for consideration.
Volume of an ideal gas at STP = 22.4 L= 22.4 dm
Also the number of gaseous molecules present at STP = 6.023*10 molecules

Vmono be the adsorbed volume of gas at high pressure conditions so as to cover the surface with a
unilayer of gaseous molecules. Let the total number of molecules of gas adsorbed corresponding to
volume Vmono be N whose value is given as

Now area of a molecule having density and occupying volume V is calculated as follows

Where Vm is the total volume of the surface

Now Total volume Vm is equal to volume of each molecule (V) multiplied by total number of molecule
(NA) adsorbed on the surface at volume, V.

Molecule being spherical in nature, Volume of the molecule V is also given as

The radius, r occupied by each gas molecule is

Area occupied by each gas molecule is

This is the area occupied by one molecule. If the value multiplied by the total number of molecules
adsorbed on the surface of adsorbent we will get the total surface area of the adsorbent.

Or,

Adsorption operations
Processes for separation of gases based on the adsorption effect. When a pure gas or a gas mixture is
contacted with a solid surface, some of the gas molecules are concentrated at the surface due to gassolid attractive forces, in a phenomenon known as adsorption. The gas is called the adsorbate and the
solid is called the adsorbent.
Adsorption can be either physical or chemical. Physisorption resembles the condensation of gases to
liquids, and it may be mono- or multilayered on the surface. Chemisorption is characterized by the
formation of a chemical bond between the adsorbate and the adsorbent.
If one component of a gas mixture is strongly adsorbed relative to the others, a surface phase rich in the
strongly adsorbed species is created. This effect forms the basis of separation of gas mixtures by gas
adsorption operations. Gas adsorption has become a fast-growing unit operation for the chemical and
petrochemical industries, and it is being applied to solve many different kinds of gas separation and
purification problems of practical importance. See Unit operations
Most separations and purifications of gas mixtures are done in packed columns (that is, columns filled
with solid adsorbent particles). Desorption of adsorbates from a column is usually accomplished by
heating the column with a hot, weakly adsorbed gas; lowering the column pressure; purging the column
with a weakly adsorbed gas; or combinations of these methods.
Microporous adsorbents like zeolites, activated carbons, silica gels, and aluminas are commonly
employed in industrial gas separations. These solids exhibit a wide spectrum of pore structures, surface
polarity, and chemistry which makes them specifically selective for separation of many different gas
mixtures. Separation is normally based on the equilibrium selectivity. However, zeolites and carbon
molecular sieves can also separate gases based on molecular shape and size factors which influence the
rate of adsorption.

Reverse osmosis (RO) is a water purification technology that uses a semipermeable membrane to
remove ions, molecules, and larger particles from drinking water. In reverse osmosis, an applied
pressure is used to overcome osmotic pressure, a colligative property, that is driven by chemical
potentialdifferences of the solvent, a thermodynamic parameter. Reverse osmosis can remove many
types of dissolved and suspended species from water, including bacteria, and is used in both
industrial processes and the production of potable water. The result is that the solute is retained on
the pressurized side of the membrane and the pure solvent is allowed to pass to the other side. To
be "selective", this membrane should not allow large molecules or ions through the pores (holes), but
should allow smaller components of the solution (such as solvent molecules) to pass freely.

Process[edit]

A semipermeable membrane coil used in desalination

Osmosis is a natural process. When two solutions with different concentrations of a solute are
separated by a semipermeable membrane, the solvent has a tendency to move from low to high
solute concentrations for chemical potential equilibration.
Formally, reverse osmosis is the process of forcing a solvent from a region of high solute
concentration through a semipermeable membrane to a region of low solute concentration by
applying a pressure in excess of the osmotic pressure. The largest and most important application of
reverse osmosis is the separation of pure water from seawater and brackishwaters; seawater or
brackish water is pressurized against one surface of the membrane, causing transport of saltdepleted water across the membrane and emergence of potable drinking water from the lowpressure side.
The membranes used for reverse osmosis have a dense layer in the polymer matrixeither the skin
of an asymmetric membrane or an interfacially polymerized layer within a thin-film-composite
membranewhere the separation occurs. In most cases, the membrane is designed to allow only
water to pass through this dense layer, while preventing the passage of solutes (such as salt ions).
This process requires that a high pressure be exerted on the high concentration side of the
membrane, usually 217 bar (30250 psi) for fresh and brackish water, and 4082 bar (6001200
psi) for seawater, which has around 27 bar (390 psi)[6] natural osmotic pressure that must be
overcome. This process is best known for its use indesalination (removing the salt and other
minerals from sea water to get fresh water), but since the early 1970s, it has also been used to purify
fresh water for medical, industrial, and domestic applications.

Electrodialysis (ED) is used to transport salt ions from one solution through ionexchange membranes to another solution under the influence of an applied electric
potential differnode and cathode reactions[edit]
Reactions take place at each electrode. At the cathode,[3]
2e + 2 H2O H2 (g) + 2 OH
while at the anode,[3]
H2O 2 H+ + O2 (g) + 2e or 2 Cl Cl2 (g) + 2e
Small amounts of hydrogen gas are generated at the cathode and small amounts of
either oxygen or chlorine gas (depending on composition of the E stream and end ion exchange
membrane arrangement) at the anode. These gases are typically subsequently dissipated as the E
stream effluent from each electrode compartment is combined to maintain a neutral pH and
discharged or re-circulated to a separate E tank. However, some (e.g.,) have proposed collection of
hydrogen gas for use in energy production.
ence. This is done in a configuration called an electrodialysis cell.
Appli..

Large scale brackish and seawater desalination and salt production.

Small and medium scale drinking water production (e.g., towns & villages, construction & military
camps, nitrate reduction, hotels & hospitals)

Water reuse (e.g., industrial laundry wastewater, produced water from oil/gas
production, cooling tower makeup & blowdown, metals industry fluids, wash-rack water)

Pre-demineralization (e.g., boiler makeup & pretreatment, ultrapure water pretreatment, process
water desalination, power generation, semiconductor, chemical manufacturing, food and
beverage)

Food processing

Agricultural water (e.g., water for greenhouses, hydroponics, irrigation, livestock)

Glycol desalting (e.g., antifreeze / engine-coolants, capacitor electrolyte fluids, oil and
gas dehydration, conditioning and processing solutions, industrial heat transfer fluids, secondary
coolants from heating, venting, and air conditioning (HVAC))

Glycerin purification