1983/10/01 by David Avnir, Dina Farin, Peter Pfeifer · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · Engineering · Chemistry · #Theoretical and Computational Physics #Phase Equilibria and Thermodynamics #Adsorption, diffusion, and thermodynamic properties of materials
paper · doi:10.1063/1.446211
openalex publication_date 1983/10/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/19
The concept of fractal dimension D of surfaces, advanced as natural measure of surface irregularity in part I of this series, is shown to apply to a remarkable variety of adsorbents: graphites, fume silica, faujasite, crushed glass, charcoals, and silica gel. The D values found for these examples vary from two to almost three (for smooth and very irregular surfaces, respectively), thus covering the whole possible range. They quantify the intuitive picture that surface inhomogeneities are minor, e.g., in graphites, but dominant, e.g., in charcoal. The analysis is based on adsorption data, with main focus on adsorbates of varying molecular cross section. They include N2, alkanes, polycyclic aromatics, a quaternary ammonium salt, and polymers. The straight-line plots so obtained confirm also a number of reported on-surface conformations of specific adsorbates. The converse method to get D from varying the size of adsorbent particles is exemplified for fume silica and crushed glass.