Modeling water adsorption in carbon micropores: Study of water in carbon molecular sieves

Measurements of water adsorption equilibrium in a carbon molecular sieve are undertaken in order to gain insight into the nature of water adsorption in carbon micropores. The measurements are taken at low concentrations to emphasize the role of oxygen-containing functional groups in the adsorption of water. Comparisons are made with previously published water adsorption data at higher concentrations to provide a data set spanning a wide range of loading. The assembled data set provides an opportunity for comparison of various theories for prediction of water adsorption in carbon micropores. Shortcomings of current theories are outlined, and an analytical theory that is free of these deficiencies is proposed in this investigation. With the consideration of micropore volume and pore size distribution, the experimental data and proposed isotherm model are consistent with previous studies of Takeda carbon molecular sieves. Also investigated is the uptake kinetics of water, which is characterized by a Fickian diffusion mechanism. The Maxwell-Stefan formulation is applied to characterize the dependence of the diffusional mobility upon loading.