SSM ACADEMY

Sr. Sec. School

CHEMISTRY PROJECT

ADSORPTION OF ACETIC
ACID ON CHARCOAL

Submitted By
R.Dharshini
XII - A

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INDEX

 Introduction
 Meaning of Adsorption
 Application of Adsorption
 Birth of Freudlich Equation
 Freundlich Equation
 Freundlich Adsorption Isotherm
 Freundlich Adsorption Isotherm Graph
 Adsorption of Acetic Acid on Charcoal
 Limitation of Freundlich Equation
 Determination of The Specific Area of the
Adsorbent
 Apparatus Used
 Safety Considerations
 Experimental Procedure
 Results and Calculations
 Applications of Activated Charcoal
 Bibliography

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 INTRODUCTION
Since solids exist because of intermolecular forces between the
repeating units that make up the lattice, those intermolecular forces
are unsaturated or unsatisfied at the surface of the solid.
In the interior of the solid, each molecule (if it is a molecular solid) is
surrounded on all sides by identical molecules. At the surface of such
a solid, however, each molecule is only partially surrounded by
identical molecules; when it is not surrounded by identical molecules,
any available molecule or ion is adsorbed to its surface. The solid
phase is called the adsorbent. The molecules that are absorbed on the
absorbent are collectively called the absorbed phase or absorbate. The
absorbate is either a gas(molecules) or a solute(molecules or ions) in a
solution. In this experiment, we will investigate the adsorption of
acetic acid in aqueous solution on activated charcoal.

Adsorption by a solid is not a very important process unless the solid

has a very large surface compared to its mass. Consequently, charcoal
made from bone, blood, or coconut shells is specially effective
because it has a highly porous structure. Charcoal is activated by
being heated to quite high temperatures in a vaccum or in a stream of
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dry air. This stream desorbes the hydrocarbons that are adsorbed
when the charcoal is first produced. Charcoal , a covalently bonded
solid, is more effective at absorbing molecules than ions.
Silver chloride, on the other hand, forms as a precipitate of nearly
colloidal dimensions if precipitated rapidly; in colloidal form it has a
very high surface-to-mass ratio and readily adsorbes ions from
solutions, often to the dismay of analytical chemists.

Meaning of Adsorption
Adsorption is the adhesion of atoms, ions, biomolecules or molecules
of gas, liquid, or dissolved solids to a surface. This process creates a
film of the adsorbate (the molecules or atoms being accumulated) on
the surface of the adsorbent. It differs from absorption, in which a
fluid permeates or is dissolved by a liquid or solid. The term sorption
encompasses both processes, while desorption is the reverse of
adsorption. It is a surface phenomenon.

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Similar to surface tension, adsorption is a consequence of surface
energy. In a bulk material, all the bonding requirements (be they
ionic, covalent, or metallic) of the constituent atoms of the material
are filled by other atoms in the material. However, atoms on the
surface of the adsorbent are not wholly surrounded by other adsorbent
atoms and therefore can attract adsorbates. The exact nature of the
bonding depends on the details of the species involved, but the
adsorption process is generally classified as phsiosorption
(characteristic of weak van der wall forces) or chemisorption
(characteristic of covalent bonding). It may also occur due to
electrostatic attraction.

Application of Adsorption
Adsorption is present in many natural physical, biological, and
chemical systems, and is widely used in industrial applications such
as activated charcoal, capturing and using waste heat to provide cold
water for air conditioning and other process requirements (adsorption
chillers), synthetic resins, increase storage capacity of carbide-derived
carbons for tunable nanoporous, and water purification.

Adsorption, ion exchange, and chromatography are sorption processes

in which certain adsorbates are selectively transferred from the fluid
phase to the surface of insoluble, rigid particles suspended in a vessel
or packed in a column. Lesser known, are the pharmaceutical industry

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applications as a means to prolong neurological exposure to specific
drugs or parts thereof.

Birth of Freudlich Equation

The Freundlich equation or Freundlich adsorption isotherm is an
adsorption isotherm, which is a curve relating the concentration of a
solute on the surface of an adsorbent, to the concentration of the
solute in the liquid with which it is in contact.
In 1909, Freundlich gave an empirical expression representing the
isothermal variation of Adsorption of a quantity of gas adsorbed by
unit mass of solid adsorbent with pressure. This equation is known as
Freundlich Adsorption Isotherm or Freundlich Adsorption equation.
There are basically two well established types of adsorption
isotherm: the Freundlich adsorption isotherm and the Langmuir
adsorption isotherm. Here the amount of mass that is adsorbed is
plotted against the temperature which gives an idea about the
variation of adsorption with temperature.

Freundlich Equation
The first mathematical fit to an isotherm was published by Freundlich
and Küster (1894) and is a purely empirical formula for gaseous
adsorbates,
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where x is the quantity adsorbed, m is the mass of the adsorbent, P is
the pressure of adsorbate and k and n are empirical constants for each
adsorbent-adsorbate pair at a given temperature. The function has an
asymptotic maximum as pressure increases without bound. As the
temperature increases, the constants k and n change to reflect the
empirical observation that the quantity adsorbed rises more slowly
and higher pressures are required to saturate the surface.

Freundlich Adsorption Isotherm

The Freundlich Adsorption Isotherm is mathematically expressed as

It is also written as

or

It is also written as

where

x = mass of adsorbate.
m = mass of adsorbent.
p = Equilibrium pressure of adsorbate.
c = Equilibrium concentration of adsorbate in solution.

K and n are constants for a given adsorbate and adsorbent

at a particular temperature.

At high pressure 1/n = 0 Hence extent of adsorption is

independent of pressure
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 But at high pressure it is dependent on pressure.

Freundlich Adsorption Isotherm Graph

Example of the Freundlich isotherm, showing the amount adsorbed, q

(e.g., in mol/kg), as a function of equilibrium concentration in the
solution, c (e.g., in mol/L). The graph is for the values of the
constants of K=4 and 1/n=0.

Adsorption of Acetic Acid on Charcoal

The amount of adsorption, given the symbol Y, has units of moles adsorbate per
mass adsorbent.
If the adsorbate is a gas, Y may have units of volume adsorbate per mass
adsorbent. The amount of adsorption Y increases with the concentration c of the
adsorbate. The increase is very rapid at first, when the surface of the adsorbent
is relatively free. As the surface fills with the adsorbate, the rate of adsorption d
Y/ d c decreases.

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Eventually the surface of the adsorbent becomes full and further increases in the
concentration cause no further increase in the amount adsorbed as shown in the
figure below. The amount adsorbed when the surface is just covered with a
mono molecular of the adsorbate is called Ymax.
At a given concentration the amount adsorbed decreases with increasing
temperature.

In this purely empirical equation (Y= kc1/n), the units of Y are moles adsorbate
per gram adsorbent, c is the concentration(mole/ L), And k and n are
experimentally determined constants.
Since above equation is valid only for a given adsorbed phase and adsorbent at a
constant temperature, it is sometimes called as feundlich isotherm. To test the
validity of the freundlich isotherm, take the logarithm of both sides of the
equation-

Log10Y= Log10k+1/n Log10C

If Log10 Y is plotted against Log10 C, Straight lines results with the slope= 1/n
and the intercept =Log10k.

Limitation of Freundlich Equation

Experimentally it was determined that extent of adsorption varies directly with
pressure till saturation pressure Ps is reached. Beyond that point, rate of
adsorption saturates even after applying higher pressure.

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Thus freundlich adsorption isotherm failed at higher pressure. To correct this
the following theory was followed.
The postulates of this theory are as follows:-
1. The adsorbed phase forms a layer of molecules, one molecule deep.
2. The system is in a state of equillbrium such that the rate of adsorption
equals the rate of desorption.
3. The rate of adsorption is proportional to the concentration and the
fraction of the surface that is vacant.
4. The rate of desorption is proportional to the fraction of the surface that is
already covered.

Determination of The Specific Area of the

Adsorbent
If the adsorption of the adsorbate leads to a maximum of a single
molecular layer when the adsorption is complete, it is possible to
calculate the area of the adsorbent. When a mono molecular layer is
adsorbed, it may be assumed that the area of the adsorben is equals
total area of adsorbed molecules. The determination of the area of an
area of an adsorbed molecule is simple in the case of small adsorbed
gas molecules such as helium, hydrogen and nitrogen.
When the adsorbed molecule is a carboxylic acid , however, the
structure is clearly more complexed. Nevertheless, the studies of
adsorption of straight-chain aliphatic monocarboxlic acids indicate
that the number of moles of acid adsorbed per gram adsorbent is
independent of chain lenghth( Hansen and Craig, 1954). This suggest
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that the acid molecules are adsorbed vertically, with the aliphatic
chain up and the carboxyl group down and attach to the adsorbent.
The cross-sectional area Aa of a straight chain acid may be taken to be
about 21*10-20m2. The specific area of the absorbent S(m2/g) is then
given by S=AaNAYmax where NA is Avogadro number.

APPARATUS USED
This experiment requires about 20 grams activated charcoal(from
blood); 12 glass- stopper; 125 ml Erlenmeyer flask; 5 -,10-,25-,and
50- ml pipettes; medium –fine filter paper; 600ml 0.4M acetic acid;
500 ml 0.1M sodium hydroxide (standardized); a phenolphthalein
indicator; and a 50 ml burette.

Erlenmeyer flask activated charcoal

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 Safety Considerations
If it is necessary to prepare the 0.4M acetic acid from glacial acetic
acid, take care not to breathe the fumes, and carry out the dilution in a
ventilated hood.

Experimental Procedure
Weigh about 1.5 g charcoal into each of the dry glass- stoppered
Erlenmeyer flask. Record the weight to 1 mg. prepare a series of
acetic acid solutions of various concentrations according to the table
below. Add 100 ml of each solution to each charcoal sample. Swirl
the flasks vigorously and let them stand overnight. Filter the solutions
and titrate a suitable size aliquot of each filtrate with standard 0.1 M
sodium hydroxide. Use progressively larger aliquots for the more
dilute solutions. Run each concentration in duplicate.

Suggested Volumes of 0.4M Acetic Acid to Dilute to 100.00 ml

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 Samplea 0.4 M Acetic Acid (ml) Aliquot for
analysis(ml)

1. 100 10
2. 75 10
3. 50 10
4. 25 25
5. 10 25
6. 5 50

a
Prepare samples in duplicate.

Results and Calculations

From the titration data determine the concentrations of the original
acetic acid solutions and of the acid solutions in equilibrium with the
adsorbent.
From the volume of the solutions, their equilibrium concentrations,
and the original acid concentrations, calculate Y, the number of moles
of the acid adsorbed per gram of adsorbent.
Prepare suitable tables of the quantities needed to test the validities of
freundlich isotherm for the aqueous acetic acid charcoal system.
Plot the duplicate runs independently(do not average it before
plotting).
Calculate Freundlich parameters and discuss the observed results.

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 Applications of Activated Charcoal
1. It is used in the water treatment for removing factory waste from
water.

2. It is used in the medical treatment.

3. It is used in electronics in double layer capacitors and hard

disks.

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4. It is used in mineral recovery.

5. It is also used in solvent recovery.

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6. It is used in depolarization of industrial chemicals, eg. sugar
refinement etc.

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 Bibliography

1. www.Google.com

2. www.Wikipedia.com

3. www.scribd.com

4. Ncert class XII Chemistry

5. Britannica

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