We report a computer simulation and experimental study of adsorption of methanol on a highly graphitized thermal carbon black over a range of temperatures to investigate the adsorptive capacity, the isosteric heat, and the configuration of molecules in the adsorbed layer. We include coverage beyond the monolayer region, not previously studied in detail. The adsorption is shown to be strongly affected by hydrogen bonding which results in strong fluid–fluid interaction between the adsorbed molecules. The adsorption isotherms are initially sigmoidal, however, and in the multilayer region the isotherms follow typical type II behavior. The isosteric heat of adsorption of methanol is distinctly different from that of simple gases because of the dominance of the strong interactions between adsorbed molecules over the solid–fluid interactions. The configuration of adsorbed molecules in the submonolayer region favors the formation of 2D cyclic clusters of four or five methanol molecules, which maximizes the hydrogen bonding, while near the end of the completion of the first layer methanol molecules form molecular chains with some degree of 2D-zigzag pattern which again maximizes the hydrogen bonding between all molecules. This is in qualitative agreement with the X-ray diffraction measurements obtained by Morishige (Morishige, K.; Kawamura, K.; Kose, A. J. Chem. Phys.
1990, 93, 5267). When the second and higher layers are formed above the surface, the adsorbate forms clusters in three-dimensional configurations; however, the molecular chains with some degree of 2D-zigzag pattern in the first layer still remain.