Immersion calorimetry is a useful tool for the characterization of sol
id surfaces in general, but in the case of microporous solids it usual
ly requires complementary information, obtained from an adsorption iso
therm. This article demonstrates the possibilities and the limitations
of this technique when used alone. It appears that the use of a stand
ard value for the enthalpy immersion does not always provide a reliabl
e assessment of the total surface area. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.