Monolayer sorption of neon in mesoporous silica glass as monitored by wide-angle x-ray scattering.

We report measurements of the x-ray scattering intensity as mesoporous silica glasses are filled with neon. The intensity of the first peak in the liquidlike diffraction pattern increases nonlinearly with mass adsorbed. We outline a simple model assuming that the major coherent contribution to the first peak in the scattering function S(Q) is due to interference from nearest-neighbor scatterers. This allows us to demonstrate an approach for surface area determination which does not rely on thermodynamic models -- and is therefore complementary to existing methods. We also suggest that the overestimation of surface area by the traditional Brunauer-Emmett-Teller method may be resolved by using the capillary, and not the bulk, condensation pressure as the reference pressure p(0). Furthermore, the alternative analysis offers an insight into the atomic structure of monatomic sorption, which may be of use for further studies on materials with different surface properties.