Size-Dependent Thermodynamics and Kinetics of Adsorption on Nanoparticles: A Theoretical and Experimental Study

Owing to their excellent adsorption properties compared with those of the corresponding bulk materials, nanoparticles have been widely applied in many fields. Their properties depend on the thermodynamics and kinetics of adsorption, which depend on the particle size. In this paper, we present universal theories of the thermodynamics and kinetics for nanoadsorption that have been developed over the past few years. Theoretically, we have derived relationships between the adsorption thermodynamic properties and the particle size, as well as those between the adsorption kinetic parameters and the particle size. Moreover, we discuss the regularities and mechanisms of influence of the particle size on the thermodynamics and kinetics of adsorption. Experimentally, taking the adsorption of methyl orange on nano-CeO2 in aqueous solution as a system, we have studied the size-dependent thermodynamics and kinetics of the system, and the size dependences were confirmed to be consistent with the theoretical relationshi...