This posting comes from a site which professes ideas which we will not discuss in this forum, but I wonder for those who really understand it, may find useful or enlightening and/or useless to us.
Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Volume 32
By Royal Society (Great Britain), JSTOR (Organization)
XIV. "On the Absorption of Gases by Solids." By J. B. Hannay, F.R.S.E., F.C.S. Communicated by Professor G. G. Stokes, D.C.L., &c., Sec. R.S. Received June 4, 1881.
During the progress of the investigations which I have from time to time had the honour of bringing under the notice of the Royal Society, I have again and again noticed the apparent disappearance of gases inclosed in vessels of various materials when the disappearance could not be accounted for upon the assumption of ordinary leakage. After a careful examination of the subject I found that the solids absorbed or dissolved the gases, giving rise to a striking example of the fixation of a gas in a solid without chemical action.
In carrying out that most troublesome investigation, the crystalline separation of carbon from its compounds, the tubes used for experiment have been in nine cases out of ten found to be empty on opening them, and in most cases a careful testing by hydraulic press showed no leakage. The gases seemed to go through the solid iron, although it was 2 inches thick. A series of experiments with various linings were tried. The tube was electro-plated with copper, silver, and gold, but with no greater success. Siliceous linings were tried—fusible enamels and glass—but still the tubes refused to hold the contents. Out of thirty-four experiments made since my last results were published, only four contained any liquid or condensed gaseous matter after the furnacing. I became convinced that the solid matter at the very high pressure and temperature used must be pervious to gases. This I find to be the case, and to a very remarkable extent. I am still investigating this matter, but as I have so much on hand it may be some time before I can finish the work, so I wish to place on record the results so far as I have proceeded. I find that glass, when at a temperature of about 200°, absorbs a large quantity of gas when the latter is under a pressure of 200 atmospheres. Oxygen and carbon dioxide have been used, and have been found to be largely absorbed, and on cooling the glass under pressure the gas is retained permanently fixed. So much is absorbed that, on quickly raising the temperature to the softening temperature of the glass, the sudden escape of gas drives the glass into foam. On slowly raising the temperature and retaining it at 300°, most of the absorbed gas is given off without any visible action.
The frothing up of the glass by the outrnsh of gas is very striking. Other silicates, and also borates and phosphates, absorb gas, especially carbon dioxide, under great pressure. Metals absorb hydrogen and some of its compounds with carbon. As the treatment of quantities of matter sufficient for analysis at these high pressures and temperatures is a matter of great difficulty, the majority of experiments being failures, the work proceeds but slowly; but I hope during the summer and autumn to be able to elucidate the subject quantitatively, when I shall detail the results to the Society.
Science abstracts: Physics, Volume 13
By Physical Society (Great Britain), American Physical Society, Institution of Electrical Engineers, American Electro-Chemical Society
ABSORPTION OF GASES BY SOLIDS
Among the interesting observations of Mr. Graham, Master of the British Mint, upon the passage of liquids and gases through solids, is the fact that atmospheric air, by passing through Indiarubber, becomes super-oxygenated, and will rekindle smoldering wood like pure oxygen. Any kind of light India-rubber receiver, in which a vacuum may be obtained, the size being sustained by mechanical means, will collect super-oxygenated air; the better if the India-rubber be thin and the temperature high. Mr. Graham makes the suggestion that the solid films pass gases through them by first condensing them to a liquid form within the substance, and then passing them off on the other side by evaporation.' Hydrogen passes through red-hot platinum, while oxygen and nitrogen do not, or not in appreciable quantities; hence their compounds with hydrogen are readily dialysed by this method. The passage of carbonic acid, chlorine, hydrochloric acid, vapor of water, ammonia, coal gas, and hydro-sulphuric acid, is also inappreciable, while the hydrogen, in compounds containing it, passes. One volume of red-hot platinum absorbed 0.207 volume of hydrogen, retained it while cold, and gave it off on reheating. One volume of palladium absorbed 643 volumes of hydrogen, sensibly increasing its weight, and, when heated afterward, gave off the most of it in a continuous stream. On the other hand, osmiumiridium does not absorb hydrogen, and copper absorbs it very slightly. Gold absorbs hydrogen and nitrogen slightly. Silver absorbs 0.289 of its volume of hydrogen, and then presents a beautifully frosted appearance. Oxygen is taken up in the proportion of 0.745. Red-hot iron and steel pass hydrogen as readily as platinum does. —Scientific American.
Science abstracts: Physics, Volume 13
By Physical Society (Great Britain), American Physical Society, Institution of Electrical Engineers, American Electro-Chemical Society
1779. Solutions of Gases in Metals. A. Sieverts. (Zeitschr. Elektrochem. 16. pp. 707-712 ; Discussion, pp. 712-718, Sept. 1, 1910. Paper read before the Deutsch. Bunsen-Gcsell., Giessen, May, 1910.)—The author has studied the occlusion of gases by metals, and describes the general results without experimental details [see Abstract No. 2116 (1907)]. The experiments included the study of (1) the influence of temperature at constant gas pressure (atmospheric), (2) the diffusion of gases through :metals, (
the relations between solubility and the metal surfaces, (4) the solubility of gases in binary alloys, and (5) the relations between solubility and gas pressure, well-characterised compounds such as hydrides, nitrides, and oxides being omitted from the experiments. Cadmium, Tl, Zn, Sb, Bi, Sn, Sb, Al, Ag, and Au dissolve neither nitrogen nor hydrogen ; nitrogen is insoluble in Cu, Ni, and Pd, and forms a nitride with Al above 800° C. Copper does not occlude CO or CO>, but in the molten state decomposes hydrocarbons, with deposition of graphite carbon. Hydrogen shows the most general solubility, which was determined quantitatively in the cases of Pd, Fe, Ni, Co, and Cu. Oxygen forms solutions of the -ous oxides with most metals, but its solubility in silver was determined. Nitrogen is absorbed only in a few special cases. Powdered iron reduced from an oxide absorbs nitrogen suddenly at about 900° C, the amount absorbed being given off again on cooling. It appears, therefore, that one of the modifications of iron (probably 7-iron) dissolves nitrogen at high temperatures. Technically pure and electrolytic iron absorb nitrogen slowly and do not evolve the gas on reheating in vacuo, which points to the formation of nitrides. The solubility of SO> in Cu, well known in metallurgical practice, has also been studied. In most systems the solubility increases regularly with the temperature, and the absorption must be regarded as endothermic. At the melting-point of the metal an abrupt increase of solubility occurs, after which it again increases along a straight line. In the case of Pd and hydrogen the solubility falls suddenly at the melting-point of the metal. Silver absorbs very little oxygen while solid, but at the melting-point the solubility increases suddenly and then slowly falls again as the temperature rises. Gases which are capable of forming solid solutions with metals must possess the property of diffusing through the metals, and in nearly all cases this has proved to be the case. The velocity of diffusion increases rapidly with the temperature, and depends largely on the state of the metal surface. Palladium black dried at 100° C. absorbs gases more rapidly than the ignited black, which in turn absorbs gases quicker than Pdwire does, but since the solubility does not depend upon the actual state of the metal in a case of pure solution, the above phenomenon is one of adsorption. It is well known that the noble metals precipitated as " blacks " contain large quantities of oxygen, hydrogen, COi, and moisture, which are given up on heating and not reabsorbed on cooling, and there is no definite evidence of the state in which these gases exist in the metals. The solubility of oxygen in molten Au-Ag alloys decreases, while that of hydrogen in molten Cu alloys increases with the temperature. The effect of composition on the solubility of hydrogen has been studied in the case of Cu alloys, and it has been shown that while Ag does not affect the solubility, Ni and Pt give rise to a considerable increase. Metals forming compounds with Cu decrease the solubility, and there is always a discontinuity in the curve at a concentration corresponding to the compound. The compounds CujAl and CujSn have been found to dissolve hydrogen. In the majority of the systems studied the relation between solubility and pressure is. summed up in the equation m = kp^, where p is the gas pressure and m the amount absorbed.
Subject: Absorbtion of Gases 
Sat Jun 12, 2010 3:30 pm