Activated carbons are widely used as commercial adsorbents. Thermal or chemical activation creates a pore system and functional groups on the inner surface which may significantly change adsorption properties. Therefore, in addition to knowledge of the structural properties, a sound understanding of surface chemistry is indispensable. This paper summarizes the state of art as well as new developments in both fields. Standardized methods for characterizing structural properties are volumetric measurements and mercury porosimetry. To get a more detailed insight into the region of micropores, a probe molecule method was developed. For characterization of surface chemistry, methods such as IR spectroscopy, temperature‐programmed desorption, and Boehm titration are subject of research. Novel methods were developed such as measuring of excess isotherms and calorimetric measurement of heat of adsorption, which are presented and discussed in greater detail in this paper. As each single method can only provide limited information, a better description of surface chemistry requires combination and careful interpretation of complementary information from different methods.

中文翻译：

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活性炭吸附剂的表征–最新技术和新方法

活性炭被广泛用作商业吸附剂。热或化学活化会在内表面产生一个孔隙系统和官能团，这可能会大大改变吸附性能。因此，除了了解结构特性外，对表面化学的全面了解也是必不可少的。本文总结了这两个领域的最新技术和最新发展。表征结构特性的标准方法是体积测量和水银孔隙率法。为了更深入地了解微孔区域，开发了一种探针分子方法。对于表面化学的表征，诸如红外光谱，程序升温脱附和Boehm滴定等方法是研究的主题。开发了新的方法，例如过量等温线的测量和吸附热的量热法测量，本文将对此进行详细介绍和讨论。由于每种方法只能提供有限的信息，因此，对表面化学的更好描述需要对不同方法中的补充信息进行组合和仔细的解释。