Abstract
ABSTRACT An analytical isotherm equation that can be applied to water vapor-biopolymer systems, was developed. The model describes the multilayer adsorption on fractal surfaces with energetic interactions adsorbate-adsorbate (measure in terms of free energy) different from that of bulk water. Assuming explicit mathematical functionalities for the variation of the free energy with the number of adsorbed layers, it is possible to evaluate the effect of the adsorbate-adsorbate interactions on the adsorption capacity of solids of high degree of surface irregularity. For those surfaces with relatively low degree of irregularity (D values slightly larger than 2) it results that the free energy variation with the layer number in the multilayer region affects considerably the sorption capacity of the adsorbent, even for water activities lower than those corresponding to the monolayer moisture content. This effect becomes less marked as the fractal dimension increases (D approaching to 3), being relevant for water activities much larger than those corresponding to the monolayer value, only. The isotherm was tested, using published experimental equilibrium data of various biopolymers.
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