adsorption

Pronunciation key ( ad-sôrp′shən ) ( ad-zôrp′shən )

ad•sorp•tion

n.

[L. ad- to; sorbere to suck in; < adsorb after absorption].

1. Adsorbing or being adsorbed; adhesion of the molecules of a gas, liquid or dissolved substance to a surface.
2. Adhesion to a solid, resulting in a greater concentration of the substance.
3. A surface phenomenon exhibited by solids which consists in the adhesion, in an extremely thin layer, of molecules of gases, liquids and dissolved substances with which they come into contact.

References

Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language (College Edition) ©1955

Biology of Plants, Fourth Edition, Worth Publishers Inc., Stanford University, Peter H. Raven and Helena Curtis, ©1971

Handbook of Chemistry, Norbert A. Lange, Ph.D. and Gordon M. Forker, B.S. in Chem. Eng. ©1946