Application of statistical physics formalism to the modeling of adsorption isotherms of ibuprofen on activated carbon

The adsorption isotherms network at three temperatures of ibuprofen on a raw activated carbon and two chemically modified samples of the same carbon were simulated using models established through statistical physics formalism. Among the different tested models, a multilayer model with saturation was found to be the best to reproduce the experimental data. In this model, five parameters affecting the adsorption process were adjusted, namely the number of molecules per site, the density of receptor sites, the two energetic parameters and the number of layers. These parameters deduced from the fitting of the experimental adsorption isotherms by numerical simulation were discussed and interpreted for their temperature dependence.