Adsorptionand porosity properties of carbon-covered alumina surfaces

Uniformly carbon-covered alumina (CCA) was prepared via the carbonisation of sucrose highly dispersed on the alumina surface. Using special thermogravimetry and sorptometry methods physicochemical properties of carbon-covered alumina surfaces were investigated. A numerical and analytical procedure for the evaluation of total heterogeneous properties (desorption energy distribution and pore-size distribution functions) on the basis of liquid thermodesorption from the sample surfaces under the quasi-equilibrium conditions are presented. The desorption energy distribution was derived from the mass loss Q-TG and the differential mass loss Q-DTG curves of thermodesorption of pre-adsorbed polar and apolar liquid films. For the first time, the evaluation of the fractal dimensions of carbon-covered alumina using the sorptometry, thermogravimetry and AFM data is presented. © Springer-Verlag 2007.