The sorption of airborne pollutants on natural and synthetic surfaces: correlation to the mathematical models

The laboratory experiments were carried out to study the sorption process of gaseous toluene in the peel of different fruits as well as in the chemically prepared material based on silica support (multiligand-adsorbent). For the sorption experiments, a vapor generating system was used that allows the exposure of sorbents to a constant flux of polluted air. The concentration of toluene in the tested sorbents was followed as a function of exposure time. The obtained results were correlated to the mathematical models describing the sorption kinetics in the leaves. The investigation with the plant material showed dual-phase behavior of the toluene partition ('mixed' sorption mechanism), in the case of multiligand-adsorbent a typical adsorption process was observed. Sorption kinetics to fruit material was well correlated to the two-compartment model, while for the chemically prepared material to the first-order model.