Gravimetric analysis of CO2 adsorption on activated carbon at various pressures and temperatures using piezoelectric microcantilevers.

We investigated the adsorption and desorption of CO(2) on activated carbon using piezoelectric microcantilevers. After coating the free end of a cantilever with activated carbon, variations in the resonance frequency of the cantilever were measured as a function of CO(2) pressure, which is related to mass changes due to the adsorption or desorption of CO(2). The pressure-dependent viscous damping effects were compensated in the calculation of the CO(2) adsorption capacity of the activated carbon by comparing the frequency differences between the coated and uncoated cantilevers. The mass sensitivity of the piezoelectric cantilever was found to be better than 1 pg. The fractional coverage of CO(2) agreed with a Langmuir adsorption isotherm, indicating that a submonolayer of adsorbed CO(2) occurred on the surface of the activated carbon under the experimental conditions. The heat of adsorption was determined using the Clausius-Clapeyron relation and the fractional coverage of CO(2) at various temperatures and pressures.