Abstract
It is essential to understand the adsorption of guest molecules on carbon-based materials for both theoretical and practical reasons. It is crucial to analyze the surface properties of carbon-based materials with a wide range of applications (e.g., catalyst supports, hydrogen storage, sensors, adsorbents, separation media, etc.). Inverse gas chromatography (IGC) as a powerful and sensitive technique can be used to characterize the surface physicochemical properties (i.e., Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area, surface energy heterogeneity, heat of adsorption, specific interaction of adsorption, work of cohesion, glass transition temperatures, solubility, and so forth) of various types of materials such as powders, films, and fibers. In this review, the principles, common methods, and application of IGC are discussed. In addition, the examples of various experiments developed for the IGC to characterize the carbonaceous materials (such as carbon nanotubes, graphite, and activated carbon) are discussed.
Highlights
Gas chromatography is a method often used to investigate gas–adsorbent and gas–liquid equilibria
There are a lot of research studies in the literature describing the physicochemical characteristics derived from inverse gas chromatography (IGC) experiments of silica, alumina, polymer and their blends, commercial stationary phases, paper fillers, wood, minerals, carbon fibers, carbon blacks and graphite, and activated carbons
Gerencser et al [43] reported that the Inverse gas chromatography (IGC) is an efficient technique to characterize the surface properties of untreated and treated multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) with the olefin maleic–anhydride–ester–amide copolymer (OMAEA) coupling agent
Summary
Gas chromatography is a method often used to investigate gas–adsorbent and gas–liquid equilibria. There are a lot of research studies in the literature describing the physicochemical characteristics derived from inverse gas chromatography (IGC) experiments of silica, alumina, polymer and their blends, commercial stationary phases, paper fillers, wood, minerals, carbon fibers, carbon blacks and graphite, and activated carbons. A review of the literature could help researchers’ better understanding and useful application of the IGC method Using this method is promising in the investigation of the surface activity of porous material, which is challenging to measure by conventional methods such as contact angle. The IGC-ID is based on the calculation of the interaction level of solid surface and probe molecules by the injection of very small amounts of probe molecules into a chromatographic column. Examples of application of IGC to characterize the physicochemical properties (such as surface energy, acid–base properties, solubility, etc.) of carbonaceous material (activated carbon, carbon nanotubes, carbon fiber, graphite, etc.) are described
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