#surface science

• To adsorb — To attract, bind, and concentrate atoms, molecules, or ions from a fluid phase (gas or liquid) onto the surface or interface of a solid or liquid substrate. This physical or chemical process occurs via residual intermolecular forces or covalent bonds, strictly distinguished from the paronym verb 'to absorb', which entails penetration into the bulk volume. It is a spontaneous, typically exothermic surface-driven phenomenon.
• Adsorbed — Bound and retained upon the surface or interface of a solid or liquid substrate (adsorbent) via intermolecular forces or chemical bonds. The term describes the state of molecules, ions, or atoms originating from a fluid phase that have left the bulk medium to form a thin, concentrated layer at the boundary between two phases.
• Adsorption (old var.) — An older or archaic linguistic variant of the noun 'adsorbție' (adsorption), denoting the physical-chemical process whereby molecules, ions, or atoms from a fluid phase are retained and concentrated upon the boundary interface of a solid or liquid substrate. Though common in early 20th-century scientific treatises, it has been modernly superseded by the standard form 'adsorbție'.