Equilibria and kinetics characterisation of two different structured nutshell-derived activated carbons

Adsorption equilibria and dynamics ofn-butane on two activated carbon samples prepared from the physical activation of nutshell are studied in this paper. The micropore size distribution (MPSD) is considered as the main source of solid heterogeneity. Lennard-Jones' potential theory and Dubinin's theory (TVFM) are used in the equilibria data to derive the MPSD, which is well fitted by a Gamma distribution function. The adsorption energy distribution derived from the MPSD is very asymmetric for both the samples studied, and this energy distribution used in the HMSD/HMSMD kinetics models for the study of adsorption dynamics ofn-butane.