Study of the influence of the soluble organic fraction of an exhaust diesel soot by a linear solvation energy relationship approach Original Research Article

Two samples of soot are studied in the present work. The results obtained on a virgin diesel soot (VDS) are compared to those obtained on the corresponding material after removal of its soluble organic fraction (SOF). The adsorption properties of both materials towards organic compounds are investigated by gas chromatography (GC) using the linear solvation energy relationship (LSER) equation of Abraham [Chem Soc Rev 1993;22:73–83]. This approach allows each material to be characterized in terms of five quantitative molecular interaction parameters. The results show the large influence of the SOF in the adsorption process of gaseous organic compounds. This study reveals that the extracted diesel soot (EDS) can interact through molecular interactions similar to those obtained on fullerenes or graphite.