Physical Adsorption

Background:

Physiosorption is the process by which atoms adhere to a surface through the van der Waals force. The atoms layer onto the surface until they completely cover the surface area. Then a new layer will be started and so on. As each layer is set upon the previous layer, the distance between the original surface and the outer most layer increases. The van der Waals force is weak so this distance limits the theoretical amount of surfaces to roughly 7 or 8, depending on lab conditions. Normally, a porous material is required for physiosorption to be seen in the lab, graphene, for example. The system that holds the porous material must be in a low pressure and cold temperature environment. The cold temperature is for condensation, and physiosorption, to occur.

This project aims to create an apparatus that will show the effects of physiosorption on a porous material.