Adsorption: Definition, Working Principles, Types, Influencing Factors and Examples

Adsorption: Definition, Working Principles, Types, Influencing Factors and Examples – Is it Adsorption?, On this occasion About the knowledge.co.id will discuss it and of course other things that also cover it. Let's look at the discussion together in the article below to better understand it.

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Adsorption: Definition, Working Principles, Types, Influencing Factors and Examples

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Adsorption is an event in which a substance attracts other substances around it to interact and bind with that substance. This adsorption process can occur between substances that are in one phase, such as solid and solid, or substances that are in different phases, for example, solid and liquid.

The event that is the opposite of adsorption is desorption which is the process of releasing one material from another material.

This adsorption event will make substances that initially spread to the environment collect and bind to a different adsorption medium is called an adsorbent where this adsorbent material has the ability to attract other suitable substances to interact with the material the. Meanwhile, other substances that are attracted or bound to the adsorbent material are called adsorbate.

The occurrence of adsorption involves interactions between surfaces in a molecule where the adsorbent material has a surface with a tendency to attract other materials so that the adsorbate material that has been bound will stick to the surface adsorbent.

This adsorption process is widely used in the chemical field such as as a catalyst, as a water purifier, and to reduce water pollution.

We also know the term absorption. Basically these two events are similar except that adsorption involves binding of molecules to the top layer of the adsorbent material. Meanwhile, in absorption, the binding or attachment of molecules tends to penetrate deeper into the layer of the adsorbent material. Therefore, in general the absorption events have higher bond strengths.

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Adsorption Working Principle

Adsorption occurs due to instability or in scientific language it is called residual forces on a surface adsorbent substance in which the presence of stability makes it inclined to bind with other substances suitable for reaching stability.

Therefore, in general the adsorbent material has a group called the active site where this group plays an important role in the adsorption process, namely in interacting with the adsorbate molecule. In addition to this interaction, adsorption can also be caused by the presence of cavities or pores in the adsorbent material.

Materials such as activated carbon and zeolite are porous materials that have a large surface area inside. As a result, the adsorbate can enter into the pore and fill the existing cavity so that it will be trapped in the pore.

Furthermore, the material that has been in the adsorbent can be stabilized in its position by various interactions such as hydrogen bonds, dipole interactions, electrostatic interactions, van der Waals interactions, and others etc.

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Adsorption Type

The various kinds of adsorption and this explanation include the following;

• Physisorption

Physisorption is a type of adsorption which is based on the interaction that occurs between the adsorbate and the adsorbent. In physical adsorption, the adsorbate will be attracted by the adsorbent and the two will experience physical interactions such as the presence of attractive forces due to van der Waals interactions.

But this physisorption does not involve the occurrence of bonds between the adsorbent molecules and the adsorbate. As a result, because there is no bond between the two, the interaction of the adsorbent and the adsorbate tends to be weak and this type of adsorption tends to be easier for desorption to occur.

• Chemisorption

Chemisorption is another type of adsorption which is adsorption by chemical interaction. In chemisorption, the adsorbent and adsorbate molecules experience chemical bonding. The existence of a chemical bond between the adsorbent and the adsorbate will make the interaction of the two materials stronger.

As a result, to remove the adsorbate molecules from the adsorbent material tends to be more difficult and requires higher energy than physisorption. Therefore, this type of chemisorption is widely applied for certain purposes because of the nature of the bond which tends to be strong.

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Factors Affecting Adsorption

Factors that can drive this adsorption to occur include the following;

• Adsorbent Activation

Before a material can be used as an adsorbent, the material needs to be treated which is called activation. This activation process aims to make the adsorbent material have the ability to absorb other substances.

Activation is generally carried out by removing guests that exist in the pores or cavities of the adsorbent obtained adsorbent material with empty cavities and allows it to be filled with adsorbate wanted.

The activation process can be carried out in various ways, such as by heating to evaporate the guest substance or by using a strong acid washing method to dissolve the guest material in the adsorbent.

• Adsorbent Surface Area

Surface area or surface area also has an important role in the adsorption process because this event involves the surface of the adsorbent. The more surface area of ​​an adsorbent material, the material will have a greater adsorption capacity.

This is because the more surface area indicates that the material has more opportunities to interact with the adsorbate.

• Contact Time

In general, the longer we mix the adsorbent with the adsorbate, the greater the interactions that occur. That's because in the adsorption process, sometimes the adsorbate has to go through diffusion where this process also takes time.

Therefore, with sufficient time, the perfect diffusion process will increase the adsorption capacity of a substance.

• Effect of Temperature

The ambient temperature also affects the adsorption process because adsorption basically follows the Le-Chatelier principle at equilibrium chemistry where the higher the temperature, the adsorption process will decrease while at low temperatures the reaction will tend to right.

• Effect of Pressure

The effect of this pressure usually occurs in the adsorption of gas molecules where an increase in the pressure of the adsorbate, in this case, namely gas, will increase the adsorption ability of the adsorbent.

That's because at high pressure a molecule tends to be forced to occupy a narrower space, which it will occurs, namely molecules will more easily enter into the cavities or pores of the adsorbent when pressure is applied tall.

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Facts About Adsorption Process

The various facts that characterize adsorption in chemistry include the following;

• Adsorption Occurs Spontaneously

As we know that when an event occurs spontaneously, it means that the event can occur without requiring a certain amount of energy and can occur by itself. A spontaneous reaction indicates that the reaction has a negative gibs energy value.

In adsorption, this spontaneous process shows that the adsorbent material can absorb the adsorbate easily without the need for other energy assistance.

• Adsorption Is An Exothermic Process

Apart from being spontaneous, this adsorption process is also said to be an exothermic process. In terms of thermochemistry, it has been studied that an exothermic process signifies that the reaction occurs accompanied by the release of energy and produces heat in the process.

Likewise, adsorption events occur when the adsorbent acts to absorb the adsorbate and form interactions between the two these molecules will release a certain amount of energy and a higher temperature will be obtained environment.

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Adsorption Example

For examples of the use of this adsorption, among others, are as follows;

• Norit Poison Absorber

Norite is a material composed of activated carbon. As we know that activated carbon is a porous material that has a very good adsorption capacity. Norit is used as an adsorbent to absorb or absorb toxins, gases and substances that are not used in the stomach and then excreted.

• Water Purifier from Tawas

Alum is an aluminum sulfate material which also has a high adsorption capacity. This alum material is widely used as a water purifier where in water this material has the ability to absorb other substances such as impurities, dyes, and other contaminants in water.

• Heavy Metal Remover

The adsorption process was also developed to address the problem of pollution in industrial wastewater which contains heavy metals and has the potential to be harmful to the environment. The existing innovation is by adsorbing heavy metals in the water using an effective adsorbent material.

Many adsorbent materials have been developed to reduce heavy metal pollution in water, such as using carbon nanotubes, natural zeolite, activated carbon, and others.

Thus the review from About the knowledge.co.id about adsorption, hopefully can add to your insight and knowledge. Thank you for visiting and don't forget to read other articles.