To test the suitability of adsorbents such as activated carbons, zeolites, and other materials to adsorb acetic acid vapors that are liberated inside museum showcases and may destroy lead objects, the adsorption capacities at the saturation pressure and the isotherms of adsorption at lower pressures were determined. The results obtained show that the NaX zeolite in pellet form and the RB4 activated carbon are the best adsorbents. Additionally, they show that materials with sodium content exhibit an exchange process that may be very important, particularly in the case of NaX zeolite. Some of the parameters determined (saturation capacity, Henry constant, kinetic parameter) seem to be related in a simple manner (although there are adsorbents that do not agree with the general trend). However, a simple relation was not found between the specific surface area previously determined with nitrogen at 77 K and the acetic acid saturation capacity at room temperature.

Adsorption isotherms of toluene and ethyl benzene, at 25 degrees C and 40 degrees C, were determined in two microporous activated carbons and one zeolite. Significant differences were found in the adsorption behavior, at low pressures, between the two vapors on the same adsorbent material. The quantities of adsorbed ethyl benzene at 25 degrees C, in the low-pressure region, were lower than what was observed at 40 degrees C in all the studied adsorbents, contrary to what was found for toluene. This fact was not related to kinetic effects at the two temperatures nor to vapor swelling of the adsorbents structure. Also, there was no molecular sieving since at high pressures the toluene and ethyl benzene occupied the same adsorption space. The differences found in the ethyl benzene adsorption at the two temperatures pose difficulties in the analysis of the adsorption data and, therefore, in the prediction of results. This is discussed in the analysis of the results with the application of the Dubinin-Astakhov equation and in the estimation of the isosteric heats of adsorption. The adsorption potentials of two possible ethyl benzene conformations were estimated for the adsorption in the pores of activated carbon from the Horvath and Kawazoe model, and the values compared with those found experimentally. The results were interpreted in terms of the ethyl benzene conformation effects when the molecule is confined in pores that are about the same size of one of the conformations.

The adsorption isotherms of two oxygenated and two chlorinated volatile organic compounds, namely acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, 1,1,1-trichloroethane, and trichloroethylene, were determined at 298 K, by the gravimetric technique, in four granular activated carbons. The textural properties of the adsorbents were evaluated from low-temperature nitrogen adsorpion. The Dubinin−Astakhov equation was used to fit the data, and a discussion of the results was made on the basis of relevant physical properties of the adorbate molecules.