Abstract:
Analysis of noncovalent sorption and desorption of complex samples is costly and time con-
suming. Efficiency of this analysis has been increased through the novel discontinuous vacuum
extraction by equilibrium headspace gas chromatography technique (DVE-HSGC) that has been
developed. This research quantified the simultaneous noncovalent sorption, desorption of 5 n-
alkylbenzenes: benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, n-propylbenzene, and n-butylbenzene, onto the
surface of single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs), in addition to calculating the surface area.
Three different isotherm models were used to identify the best fit for the data and Spartan molec-
ular modeling software was used to visualize the sorption mechanisms. The DVE-HSGC obtains
data in the submonolayer region, effectively modeling infinite dilution. This research determined
a correlation between the hydrophobicity of the sorbents and an increase in the affinity for the
SWCNT and viability of the DVE-HSGC technique.
