The Adsorption of Some Organic Vapours by Wool and Nylon

Vapour‐phase adsorption experiments have been made with a number of organic compounds on nylon and wool fibres. Preliminary tests showed that all hydroxylic compounds have very considerably greater affinity for the fibres than have other polar substances. Rate curves and/or isotherms have been determined for acetic acid, ethanol, methanol, phenol, and other compounds. It is shown that in absence of air and moisture the fibres are stable for long periods at temperatures as high as 150d̀ c., so that adsorption tests can be made with substances of high boiling point, e.g. ß‐naphthol. At these temperatures each successive adsorption‐desorption cycle produces a rise in the adsorptive capacity of the fibre, and sometimes in the rate of diffusion of the adsorbate. The results appear to indicate a mechanism by which hydroxylic compounds are adsorbed as a monolayer on localised sites, probably by hydrogen bonding at the oxygen atoms of the amide or peptide groups.