Specific surface area

Scratches, represented by triangular-shaped grooves, make the surface area greater.

Specific surface area (SSA) is a property of solids defined as the total surface area (SA) of a material per unit mass,[1] (with units of m2/kg or m2/g). Alternatively, it may be defined as SA per solid or bulk volume[2][3] (units of m2/m3 or m−1).

It is a physical value that can be used to determine the type and properties of a material (e.g. soil or snow). It has a particular importance for adsorption, heterogeneous catalysis, and reactions on surfaces.

  1. ^ IUPAC, Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 2nd ed. (the "Gold Book") (1997). Online corrected version: (2006–) "specific surface area". doi:10.1351/goldbook.S05806
  2. ^ http://www.owlnet.rice.edu/~ceng402/Hirasaki/CHAP3D.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  3. ^ http://www.rsc.org/suppdata/lc/b8/b812301b/b812301b.pdf [bare URL PDF]