Adsorbent Selection Guide

General Guidelines for Choosing Carbon Adsorbents
Physical Characteristics of Supelco Carbon Adsorbents
Adsorbent Cross Reference

In addition to the general guidelines presented in the tables below view the technical report titled “A Tool for Selecting an Adsorbent for Thermal Desorption Applications”, which highlights the relative differences between the most commonly used adsorbents with the help of color-coded performance charts.

General Guidelines for Choosing Carbon Adsorbents

For multi-bed tubes, use the weaker adsorbent in front of the stronger adsorbent. For example, use Carbopack™ C in front of Carbopack B.

Relative Analyte Size1	Recommended Materials (listed weakest to strongest)
> C20	Carbotrap™ F, Carbopack F
C12-C20	Carbotrap C, Carbopack C, Carbotrap Y, Carbopack Y
C5-C12	Carbotrap B, Carbopack B
C3-C9	Carboxen™ 1016, Carbotrap X, Carbopack X, Carbopack Z
C2-C5	Carboxen 569, Carbosieve™ G, Carboxen 1000, Carbosieve S-III, Carboxen 1021, Carboxen 1018, Carboxen 1003, Carboxen 1012
1Analyte size relative to n-Alkanes. Consider all atoms, not just Carbon. For example, even though 1,2-Dichloroethane is a C2, the two Chlorine atoms give it a relative size between C4 and C5.

Physical Characteristics of Supelco Carbon Adsorbents

Adsorbent	BET surface area1 (m2/g)	Density (g/mL)	Porosity (cc/g)			Micropore Diameter (Å)
			micro-	meso-	macro-
Carbotrap graphitized carbon black (20/40 mesh )
Carbotrap F	5	0.69	-	-	-	-
Carbotrap C	10	0.68	-	-	-	-
Carbotrap Y	24	0.45	-	-	-	-
Carbotrap B	100	0.37	-	-	-	-
Carbotrap X	240	0.43	-	0.62	-	100
Carbopack graphitized carbon black (60/80 mesh)
Carbopack F	5	0.64	-	-	-	-
Carbopack C	10	0.68	-	-	-	-
Carbopack Y	24	0.42	-	-	-	-
Carbopack B	100	0.35	-	-	-	-
Carbopack Z	220	0.18	-	1.73	-	255
Carbopack X	240	0.41	-	0.62	-	100
Carbon Molecular Sieve
Carboxen-1016	75	0.40	-	0.34	-	-
Carboxen-569	485	0.58	0.20	0.14	0.10	5 - 8
Carboxen- 10212	600	0.62	0.30	-	-	5 - 8
Carboxen-10182	675	0.60	0.35	-	-	6 - 8
Carbosieve S-III3	975	0.61	0.35	0.04	-	4 - 11
Carboxen-1003	1000	0.46	0.38	0.26	0.28	5 - 8
Carbosieve G	1160	-	0.49	0.02	-	6 - 15
Carboxen-1000	1200	0.48	0.44	0.16	0.25	10 - 12
Carboxen-1012	1500	0.50	-	0.66	-	19 - 21
1 Brunauer, Emmett, Teller (BET) surface area calculations 2 microporous, monoporous carbon sieve 3 closed pore structure

Adsorbent Cross Reference

Adsorbent	Supelco Equivalent or Substitute
Ambersorb® 347	Carboxen 564
Anasorb C300	Hopcalite
Anasorb CMS	Carboxen 564, Carboxen 1000, Carbosieve S-III
Anasorb CSC	Coconut charcoal
Anasorb GCB1	Carbopack B, Carbotrap B
Anasorb GCB2	Carbopack C, Carbotrap C
Anasorb 708	Chromosorb® 108
Anasorb 727	XAD-4
Anasorb 747	Carboxen 564, Carboxen 1000, Carbosieve S-III
Carbograph 1	Carbopack B, Carbotrap B
Carbograph 2	Carbopack C, Carbotrap C
Carbosphere	Carboxen 1000
Graphpac-GC	Carbopack B, Carbotrap B, Carbopack C Carbotrap C
Hydrar	Hopcalite
Purosieve	Carboxen 1000
Spherocarb	Carboxen 1000
Tenax® GC	Tenax® TA