Webinar: Determination of Low BET Surface Area using
Vapor Sorption Techniques

Date: Thursday, 16 July 2020
Available in two sessions: 10am BST (11am CEST) & 11am EDT
Duration: 25 mins plus Q&A

The interaction of a solid with its surroundings is through the available surface area for adsorption of gas or vapor molecules. This also allows probing of material surface including irregularities and pores. One of the most successful methods is based on the adsorption method of Brunauer, Emmett and Teller (BET), which is based on the physical adsorption of a vapour or gas onto the surface of a solid. Traditionally, sorption studies were carried out at low temperatures to obtain nitrogen isotherms at 77 K, which were then used to calculate BET surface areas. But, considering that material behaviour varies with temperature, measurements at ambient temperatures may be more relevant and also allow the use of various gases and vapors. Furthermore, techniques which are using nitrogen are not ideal for low surface area range, where samples such as organic materials, powdered metals, and crystalline materials with surface area well below 1m2/g adsorb a very small quantity of gas and make the relative error unacceptable.

Vapour sorption techniques, namely Dynamic Vapor Sorption (DVS) and Inverse Gas Chromatography Surface Energy Analyser (iGC-SEA) have been demonstrated in various papers as a quick method to determine isotherms. This work demonstrates the capability of DVS and iGC-SEA to measure isotherms quickly and reproducibly at relatively low concentrations and ambient temperatures using organic probe molecules, allowing the BET region of the isotherm to be obtained more accurately.

The webinar is beneficial to individuals whose works are in the industry of:

• Pharmaceuticals
• Biopharmaceuticals
• Food
• Biotechnology

Presenter

Meishan Guo is an Application Engineer in Surface Measurement Systems. Since joining SMS in 2018, She has been working on surface characterization of solid materials, including fibre, powder and film samples, using Dynamic Vapour Soprtion (DVS) and Inverse Gas Chromatography (iGC-SEA) as the techniques. Meishan obtained her Master’s Degree in Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London in December 2017. Her research project was focused on investigating the properties of fragrance molecules with solid substrates by diffusion and sorption. She also received her Bacherlor’s Degree in Chemical Technology at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and in Chemistry at Sun Yat-sen University in June 2016.