Changes in the micropore structure of strongly activated carbons, induced by large adsorbate molecules

Adsorption of molecules with increasing sizes, by strongly activated carbons, is characterized by a restricted accessibility of the micropore system for relative pressures <i>p/p</i>₀< 10⁻³ approx. The adsorption capacity at low pressures increases with successive adsorption-desorption cycles. The adsorption of relatively small molecular probes, considered in the light of the generalized equation proposed by Stoeckli, suggests that substantial but largely reversible modifications are induced in the micropore system by the large adsorptives. This is also in agreement with the results obtained from the heats of immersion of a heterogeneous carbon into benzene and tertiobutyl-benzene, before and after treatment with tertiobutyl-benzene.