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Adsorption from Solutions Acetic Acid on Charcoal

Experiment No.3
Date Performed: May 7 2010

SUBMITTED TO:

Engr. Jerome Taboada

SUBMITTED BY: 0
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Jerwina Arnejo -1

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ln Y

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ln X
INTRODUCTION:

Adsorption is the adhesion of molecules of gas, liquid or dissolved solids to a


surface. It differs from absorption in which a fluid permeates or is dissolved by a liquid
or a solid. Adsorption occurs because the atoms or ions at the surface of a solid are
extremely reactive. Unlike their counterparts in the interior of the substance, they have
unfulfilled valence requirements. The unused bonding capability of the surface atoms or
ions may be used to bond molecules from the gas or solution phase to the surface of the
solid. [4]
There are two main types of adsorption. In the first type, the forces are of a
physical nature and the adsorption is relatively weak. The force that corresponds to this
type is called van der Waals forces. This type of adsorption is known as physical
adsorption, physisorption, or van der Waals adsorption. This type of adsorption plays
only an unimportant role in catalysis, except for certain special types of reactions
involving free atoms or radicals. In the second type of adsorption, first considered in
1916 by American chemist Irving Langmuir, the adsorbed molecules are held to the
surface by covalent forces of the same general type as those occurring between atoms in
molecules. This type of adsorption is known as chemisorption. An important
consequence of chemisorption is that after a surface has become covered with a single
layer of adsorbed molecules, it is saturated. And additional adsorption can occur only on
the layer already present and this is generally weak adsorption. Langmuir thus
emphasized that chemisorption involves the formation of a unimolecular layer. It was
suggested in 1931 by Hugh Scott Taylor that chemisorption is frequently associated with
appreciable activation energy and may therefore be a relatively slow process. For this
reason, chemisorption is often referred to as activated adsorption. By contrast, van der
Waals adsorption requires no activation energy and occurs more rapidly than
chemisorption. [2]
Adsorption is usually described through isotherms, that is, the amount of
adsorbate on the adsorbent as a function of its pressure (if gas) or concentration (if liquid)
at constant temperature. The quantity adsorbed is nearly always normalized by the mass
of the adsorbent to allow comparison of different materials. One of the earliest attempts
to describe mathematically the adsorption isotherms was the Freundlich equation:

X/ m = kC1/n
In this purely empirical equation, the units of X/ m are moles adsorbate per gram
adsorbent, C is the concentration (mol/L), and k and n are experimentally determined
constants. Since the equation is valid only for a given adsorbed phase and adsorbent at
constant temperature, it is sometimes called the Freundlich isotherms. To test the validity
of the Freundlich isotherm, take the logarithms of both sides:

Log10 X/m = log10 k + 1/n log10 C


If log10 X/m is plotted against log10 C, a straight line results with the slope equal to 1/n
and the intercept equal to log10 k. [2]
APPARATUS & MATERIALS:

• 25 mL burette
• 100 ml calibrated flask
• 9 cm filter paper
• 250 ml 0.50 M acetic acid
• About 20 g of activated charcoal (not bone charcoal)
• 6 250-ml Erlenmeyer flasks
• 150 ml standard 0.10 M NaOH

PROCEDURE:

A six 2 gram (need not to be exactly 2g, it should be known to the nearest mg.) of
activated charcoal was weighed and then placed into each of the six numbered 250-ml
Erlenmeyer flasks. After which, a volume of 100 ml of acetic acid starting with a 0.500
M solution was added to the 1st Erlenmeyer flask. The concentrations of the other five
should have the following concentration values: 0.250M, 0.125 M, 0.0625M, 0.0313M
and 0.0156M. The flasks were then covered and let it stand for about an hour and are
shaken at frequent intervals.

To standardize the original acetic acid solution (0.500 M CH3COOH in terms of


the NaOH solution, two 5-ml samples were titrated with 0.100M NaOH using
phenolphthalein as an indicator. After the 6 solutions have stood for about an hour, the
finely powdered charcoal was filtered and samples were taken from the filtrate. The 6
filtered charcoals were set aside for future use.

In the first concentration (0.500 M), two 5-ml samples were titrated with 0.100 M
NaOH using phenolphthalein as an indicator. Then, in the 2nd concentration (0.250 M),
two 10-ml samples were also titrated with 0.100 M NaOH and in the third concentration
(0.125 M), two 25-ml samples were also titrated with 0.100 M NaOH. In the last three
concentrations, a 50-ml sample of each concentration was titrated with 0.100 M NaOH.

To demonstrate that this type of adsorption is reversible, the filtered charcoal that
was set aside before was punctured and washed using a wash bottle into a 100-ml
volumetric flask. It is being added by distilled water until the total volume is 100 ml. The
mixtures were allowed to stand for about 20 to 30 minutes and shaking it at frequent
intervals. After 30 mins, the charcoal was filtered off and a 50-ml of each of the mixture
was titrated with 0.100 M NaOH using phenolphthalein as an indicator. It should be
realized that the last experiment is only semi- quantitative since no allowance is made for
the original solution which adheres to the charcoal.
RESULTS:

TABLE 1: Tabulated results

SAMPLE ΔX(g) m(g) ln X (ΔX/m) C0 – C = Y ln Y


0.500 M 2.8656 1.8 0.4650 0.052 -2.9565
0.250 M 1.3665 1.9 -0.3296 0.0275 -3.5936
0.125 M 0.5841 2.1 -1.2798 0.0144 -4.2405
0.0625 M 0.2076 1.9 -2.2137 6.7x10-3 -5.0056
0.0313 M 0.1038 1.9 -2.9077 3.3x10-3 -5.7138
0.0156 M 0.054 1.9 -3.5614 2.4x10-3 -6.0323

GRAPH: ln X/m = ln k + nlny

0
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ln Y

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ln X

LEGEND:

ln Y = concentration (mol per liters)


ln X = grams adsorbate per grams adsorbent
ANALYSIS:

Solid surfaces can adsorb dissolved substances from solution. When a solution of
acetic acid in water is shaken with activated carbon, part of the acid is adsorbed by the
carbon and the concentration of the solution decreases. From the table and graphs, it is
realized that K increases as the concentration of CH3COOH decreases. The plot of the
natural logarithm of the specific adsorption (ln Y) versus the natural logarithm of moles
adsorbate per gram adsorbent (ln ΔX/m) is linear. This shows that the system follows the
Freundlich adsorption isotherm. [1] And since the graph is a straight line, we can readily
obtain the values of the two constants based on the values if the slope(1/n) and its
intercept (ln k).

CONCLUSION:

The adsorption of acetic acid on charcoal is an example of physical adsorption


where dipole and van der Waals forces are the predominant sources of attraction. The
amount of acetic acid (adsorbate) adsorbed per gram of charcoal (adsorbent) will depend
on the surface area of the charcoal, the temperature of the solution and the adsorbate
concentration in solution.

REFERENCES:

1. Atkins, Peter and de Paula, Julio. Atkins Physical Chemistry, 7th edition. W.H.
Freeman and Company, 2006

2. Laidler, Keith and Meisler, John. Physical Chemistry, 3rd edition. Houghton Mifflin
Company

3. Maron, Samuel and Lando, Jerome. Fundamentals of Physical Chemistry. New York,
USA: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., 1951

4. Brown, Theodore E., Lemay, Eugene H, et al. Chemistry the General Science 9th
edition. Pearson Education, Inc., 2003

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