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🧪 Adsorption of Acetic Acid on Activated Carbon

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🧪 Adsorption of Acetic Acid on Activated Carbon

“Turns out carbon can teach you a lot!”

This was the first experiment we conducted in our CED 322 Chemical Engineering Laboratory I course. And let me tell you—it wasn’t the easiest start. In fact, among all the experiments we’ll be doing this semester, this one definitely came with the heaviest lab workload. From preparing solutions and handling activated carbon to titrations and isotherm plotting—it had it all.

That said, having some previous lab experience really helped me catch on quickly. Also, big shoutout to our lab supervisor, Res. Asst. Ümran Ünlü, who was incredibly helpful throughout. She answered every question I had with patience and clarity. If I had one little complaint though… her quiz questions were way too detailed and tricky 😅

🧠 Theory: What’s This All About?

Adsorption is basically when molecules from a gas or liquid phase stick to the surface of a solid. The molecule that sticks is called the adsorbate, and the surface it sticks to is the adsorbent. In our experiment, we used acetic acid as the adsorbate and activated carbon as the adsorbent.

There are two main types of adsorption:

  • Physisorption: Happens via weak forces (like van der Waals). It’s usually reversible.
  • Chemisorption: Involves chemical bonding. Stronger, often irreversible.

Activated carbon is ideal for adsorption because it has a massive surface area (500–1200 m²/g!). That’s why it’s often used in industrial applications like water purification, air filtration, and chemical separation.

We used two different models to analyze the adsorption process:

  • Langmuir Isotherm: Assumes monolayer adsorption with uniform surface sites.
  • Freundlich Isotherm: More empirical; assumes a heterogeneous surface.

⚗️ Methodology Overview

The experiment was hands-on and pretty involved. Here’s a simplified breakdown of what we did:

  1. Prepared solutions: We made 1 M acetic acid and 0.1 M NaOH.
  2. Diluted samples: Took 30, 20, 10, 5, and 2.5 mL of acetic acid and diluted each to 100 mL.
  3. Added activated carbon: 2 grams of carbon per sample—all added at the same time to keep timing consistent.
  4. Stirred: Samples were mixed for 30 minutes using a magnetic stirrer.
  5. Filtered: Carbon was filtered out, and the remaining acetic acid in solution was titrated.
  6. Titration: Using NaOH and phenolphthalein indicator, we determined how much acid remained after adsorption.

Timing was critical here—since adsorption depends on contact time, we had to be super careful to treat each sample equally.

📈 Results & Observations

Here’s what we noticed:

  • The higher the acetic acid concentration, the more got adsorbed by the carbon.
  • The Langmuir model gave the best fit at higher concentrations, indicating monolayer adsorption.
  • The Freundlich model fit better at lower concentrations, suggesting a more heterogeneous surface.

We plotted both isotherms, and the data matched our expectations pretty well. The R² values were high in both cases, but slightly higher for Freundlich (R² = 0.9978) at low concentrations.

🧪 Fun fact: Even though we stirred for only 30 minutes, the system seemed to reach equilibrium pretty fast—which is great for real-world applications where time matters.

📄 Full Report

CED 322, experiment 5, group 9İndir

🗒️ My Takeaway: This was a pretty dense experiment to start the semester with—but in a good way. It brought together concepts like solution preparation, titration, adsorption theory, and data modeling. Also, working with activated carbon was cool—it really helped visualize how powerful surface interactions can be.

🌐 Extra Resources

If you’re like me and learn better by watching things in action, I highly recommend checking out a few video resources. I came across some really solid YouTube videos that explained Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms clearly and even showed how to apply them.

🎥 Recommended Videos:

Also, just searching keywords like:

  • “adsorption isotherms explained”
  • “Langmuir vs Freundlich comparison”
  • “activated carbon adsorption experiment”

…will lead you to a bunch of helpful content. There’s no shortage of material out there once you know what to look for—especially if you’re studying for one of Ümran hocam’s legendary quizzes 😉

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