Hysteresis in Sorption. I. Permanence of the Hysteresis Loop. Titania Gel Water System.

Abstract

The interesting phenomenon of "hysteresis in sorption" has received considerable attention in recent years. The pioneers in this field of study were van Bemmelen (16), Zsigmondy (18, and Anderson (la. A review of the literature shows that instances of hysteresis are numerous. There was a time when the phenomenon was believed to be spurious and was attributed merely to volatile impurities desorbed from the adsorbent surface (4). By the careful and extensive work of Allmand and collaborators (1), Lambert and Foster (8), Foster (6), and Burrage (2), the phenomenon has been established as real. There has, however, been a diversity of opinion regarding the cause of hysteresis. It has been the aim of the present work to elucidate the nature of this phenomenon. A systematic investigation of the hysteresis loop in the sorption of water on titania gel was undertaken.