Current State of Investigations in Surface Chemistry, Adsorption and Ion Exchange in Ukraine

Studies in surface chemistry, adsorption, ion exchange and the practical application of adsorbents and ion exchangers currently being performed in Institutes of the Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences, Ukrainian universities and institutes for applied studies supervised by the Ukrainian Ministry of Industrial Policy are summarised. The origins, development and current state of these works are reviewed along with their significance for surface science, Ukrainian industry and environmental protection

Hydrophilicity–Hydrophobicity Characteristics of Solid Surfaces and the State of Water near Surfaces of a Various Nature

Values for the surface tension, π, of 85 mJ/m 2 and for the contact angle of wetting by water as its saturated vapour, θ V , of 75° are proposed as criteria for distinguishing between hydrophilic and hydrophobic solid surfaces. It is shown that the water boundary layers at hydrophilic surfaces are more ordered while those at hydrophobic surfaces are less ordered relative to the situation in the bulk water structure. The localised model can be used to describe the state of motion of water molecules at a hydrophilic surface, while the motion of water molecules near a hydrophobic surface conforms to the non-localised model

Study of the Structure of a Surface-porous Adsorbent using the Gas Chromatographic Version of the Molecular Probe method

Results are presented of structural studies of a silica-based surface-porous adsorbent. It is shown that a reliable estimate of the size of the surface micropores of this adsorbent can be obtained using the gas chromatographic version of the molecular probe method. This is based on a comparison of the thermodynamic properties for the adsorption of substances of known molecular size on the surface-porous adsorbent with those characteristic for the adsorption of the same substances on to a non-porous adsorbent of a similar chemical nature