Inverse Gas Chromatography to Characterize the Surface Properties of Solid Materials

In the last 40 years, many research works have been devoted to the characterization of the surface properties of solid materials, and especially to the determination of the dispersive component, the dispersive free surface energy, the specific interactions, and the Lewis acid-base properties of solid surfaces, but with some controversies when using inverse gas chromatography (IGC) at infinite dilution. The cross-sectional surface area of organic molecules is a geometric parameter of interaction required to evaluate the London dispersive and polar surface parameters of adsorption of such molecules on solid materials. The effect of the temperature on the surface area of molecules was previously neglected. This had a negative impact on the values of the surface properties of the materials. Therefore, it will be crucial to propose a new method by using the IGC technique to characterize the solid materials and best quantify their dispersive and polar interactions. This method will apply the new thermal model that gave the various relations of the surface area and the London dispersive surface energy of organic molecules as a function of the temperature.