Equilibrium adsorption in cylindrical mesopores: a modified Broekhoff and de Boer theory versus density functional theory.

This paper presents a thermodynamic analysis of capillary condensation phenomena in cylindrical pores. Here, we modified the Broekhoff and de Boer (BdB) model for cylindrical pores accounting for the effect of the pore radius on the potential exerted by the pore walls. The new approach incorporates the recently published standard nitrogen and argon adsorption isotherm on nonporous silica LiChrospher Si-1000. The developed model is tested against the nonlocal density functional theory (NLDFT), and the criterion for this comparison is the condensation/evaporation pressure versus the pore diameter. The quantitative agreement between the NLDFT and the refined version of the BdB theory is ascertained for pores larger than 2 nm. The modified BdB theory was applied to the experimental adsorption branch of adsorption isotherms of a number of MCM-41 samples to determine their pore size distributions (PSDs). It was found that the PSDs determined with the new BdB approach coincide with those determined with the NLDFT (also using the experimental adsorption branch). As opposed to the NLDFT, the modified BdB theory is very simple in its utilization and therefore can be used as a convenient tool to obtain PSDs of all mesoporous solids from the analysis of the adsorption branch of adsorption isotherms of any subcritical fluids.