Deviations from the normal ortho/para ratio for water (3 : 1) in the vapor phase in dynamic sorption

Abstract

Deviations of the ortho/para ratio from its normal value (3: 1) were observed by spectral selective detection of ortho and para water molecules when water vapor passed through a column with a nanoporous polymeric adsorbent. The effect was suggested to be related to the nonstationary dynamics of sorption, that is, nonequilibrium character of chromatography. In terms of this model, the factor of spin ortho/para selectivity is slow and unequal diffusion of the spin isomers of water molecules inside the adsorbent, a process spurious for ideal equilibrium chromatography.