Thermodynamics of adsorption of n-alkanes on maleated wood fibers by inverse gas chromatography

The adsorption of n-heptane, n-octane, n-nonane, and n-decane on untreated wood fiber and wood fiber treated with maleated polypropylene was studied by inverse gas chromatography (IGC) at infinite dilution or zero surface coverage. The specific retention volume increased with increasing probe chain length, decreased with increasing column temperature, and increased with increasing maleated polypropylene concentration. The enthalpy of adsorption increased with increasing chain length of the probe vapors. The enthalpy of adsorption remained constant after the treatment of wood fiber. The London dispersive component of the surface free energy decreased with the column temperature and showed no dependency with either the type of wood fiber or the maleated polypropylene concentration. (C) 1997 Academic Press.