Determination of specific surface area of biomass activated carbon vial headspace gas chromatography technique

This paper introduces a method for determining the specific surface area (SSA) of biomass activated carbon (BAC) using a tracer-based headspace gas chromatography (HS-GC) technique. The method relies on the adsorption equilibrium of methanol on BAC samples at elevated temperature. A mathematical model allows for the calculation of SSA from the methanol signal obtained during the headspace analysis. The results demonstrate high precision (relative standard deviation < 2.44%) and strong accuracy (correlation with the conventional BET-N₂ adsorption method, R² = 0.986). This method offers several advantages over traditional techniques, including ease of operation, significant time efficiency, and the the ability to perform batch determinations of SSA, as multiple samples can be processed simultaneously during the phase equilibrium step.