Design, construction, and calibration of an isothermal titration calorimeter and its application in the study of the adsorption of phenolic compounds.

An isothermal calorimetric titration was designed and built, and some of the results obtained are presented here. For this purpose, a Calvet heat-conducting microcalorimeter was developed and connected to a titration unit built for this experiment to record titration thermograms. The microcalorimeter was electrically calibrated to establish its sensitivity and reproducibility, obtaining K = 13.56 ± 0.21 W V(-1). Additionally, the equipment was tested using the heat of neutralisation for the tris-hydroxymethyl-aminomethane-HCl (THAM-HCl) system, obtaining ΔH = -30.92 ± 0.03 kJ mol(-1). The unit was assembled to obtain titration heats and the corresponding thermodynamic variables (ΔH, ΔG, ΔS, and K(e)) with a system of phenolic derivatives-activated carbon (synthesised from potato peel).