A temperature-controlled device for volumetric measurements of Helium adsorption in porous media

Benjamin Cross , Laurent Puech (1) , Pierre-Etienne Wolf (1)

1 NEEL - HELFA - Hélium : du fondamental aux applications

We describe a set-up for studying adsorption of helium in silica aerogels, where the adsorbed amount is easily and precisely controlled by varying the temperature of a gas reservoir between 80~K and 180~K. We present validation experiments and a first application to aerogels. This device is well adapted to study hysteresis, relaxation, and metastable states in the adsorption and desorption of fluids in porous media.

Mots clés: isotherms; aerogels; adsorption; porous media; helium

Domaines: Matière Molle [cond-mat.soft]; Instrumentations et Détecteurs [physics.ins-det]

Benjamin Cross, Laurent Puech, Pierre-Etienne Wolf. A temperature-controlled device for volumetric measurements of Helium adsorption in porous media. Journal of Low Temperature Physics, 2007, 148, pp.903-907. ⟨10.1007/s10909-007-9482-y⟩. ⟨hal-00288825v2⟩