Influence of pore size distribution on water adsorption on silica gels

The influence of pore size distribution on water adsorption has been analysed for a series of partially dehydroxylated silica gels with different pore structure, assessed from the analysis of nitrogen and CO2 adsorption isotherms. It has been observed that some silica gels show water adsorption mainly in the first range of relative pressures (relative pressure from 0 up to 0.6), while other silica gels also show water adsorption at higher relative pressures. Comparison of the N-2 and water adsorption isotherms points out that only silica gels containing mesoporosity show water adsorption at relative pressures higher than 0.6. Moreover, a good correlation between the initial part of water adsorption isotherms (relative pressure from 0 up to 0.3) and CO2 adsorption isotherms has been found (the higher the CO2 adsorption capacity, the higher the water adsorption capacity at low pressure).