Method and system for quantifying porous material
AssigneeUniversity of Wyoming
InventorsKurt W Stahlfeld, Erica L Belmont
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Abstract
The processes, systems, and methods for quantifying porous material are disclosed. A porous solid adsorbs an adsorbate. The saturated porous solid is heated and an isotherm may be generated such as from measured adsorbate mass loss. The type of isotherm is identified, and subsequent analysis may be performed to calculate specific surface area, pore size distribution, and pore volume. The specific type of subsequent analysis, such as derivation of a BET transform and application of BET theory, depends on the type of isotherm. This allows the porous material to by quantified using a variety of different adsorbates.
Claims20
A method for quantifying porous material, the method comprising:
- placing a porous solid in a saturator;
- adsorbing an adsorbate by the porous solid to form a saturated porous solid;
- thermally desorbing the saturated porous solid in a closed container with a pinhole by heating the saturated porous solid in a thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) machine;
- generating an isotherm;
- mapping desorption data to the isotherm using thermos data to determine if a BET transform can be calculated utilizing the isotherm;
- calculating a surface area and BET constant if the BET transform is calculated;
- and
- calculating a pore size distribution and surface area if the BET transform is not calculated.
A method for quantifying porous material, the method comprising:
- placing a porous material in a sealed saturator;
- saturating the porous material with an adsorbate in the sealed saturator;
- placing the saturated porous material in a thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) machine and in a controlled chemical composition environment, such as within a sealed pan with a pinhole lid;
- heating the saturated porous material in the TGA machine, wherein the heating comprises heating the saturated porous material to a first temperature and then heating the saturated porous material to a second temperature;
- generating an isotherm;
- mapping the mass loss measured from the heated saturated porous material, to the isotherm using thermos data;
- and
- determining if a BET transform of the porous material may be calculated utilizing the isotherm.
A system for quantifying porous material, the system comprising:
- a porous solid;
- a controlled chemical composition environment comprising a closed container with a pinhole;
- an adsorbate, wherein the adsorbate comprises at least one of a gas, a liquid, or a dissolved solid;
- a saturator, wherein the saturator is configured to saturate the porous solid with the adsorbate;
- and
- a thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) machine configured to thermally desorb the saturated porous solid in the closed container with the pinhole by heating the saturated porous solid to generate an isotherm;
- wherein desorption data is mapped to the isotherm using thermos data to determine if a BET transform of the porous solid can be calculated.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.