Adsorption properties of a Pd/γ-Al2O3 catalyst using inverse gas chromatography

The adsorption properties of a commercial Pd/Al₂O₃ catalyst were studied and compared with those of the Al₂O₃ support of the same specific surface area. Inverse gas chromatography (IGC) was used to determine the adsorption isotherms of five n-alkanes (C₈–C₁₂) in the 200–230 °C temperature range. Moreover, heats of adsorption, solubility coefficients and free energy of adsorption, are also reported. Interaction parameters of polar molecules with the stationary phase have also been determined and compared with those for the n-alkanes. Experiments with both the reduced and oxidized catalyst have been carried out by IGC and the results compared with those obtained by temperature programmed reduction (TPR) experiments.