Characterization of Granular Activated Carbons Used in Rum Production by Immersion “Bubblemetry” in a Pure Liquid

Microscopic techniques have been widely used in many branches of science. However, almost no studies for the characterization of porous materials have been developed using optical microscopy. A new methodology has been developed in order to characterize granular activated carbons based on the microscopic analysis of its bubbles formed by immersion into a pure liquid. A new experimental set-up for the microscopic measurements of bubble size has been presented and results are correlated with the porous structure of carbons characterized by conventional N2 sorption. Five samples ofgranular activated carbons used in the rum production with different porous characteristics have been evaluated by both methods. Parameters as SBET and total volume of pores showed a linear correlation with the measured total volume of the produced bubbles using glycerol as immersing liquid at 25 °C. Found relationship givesthe possibility to predict and calculate porous characteristics of granular activated carbons. This new methodology approach opens possibilities in using optical microscopy for characterizing high-porosity materials at different pore levels complementary to other techniques.