A new kinetic model of protein adsorption on suspended anion-exchange resin particles

The kinetics of adsorption of bovine serum albumin on an anion-exchange resin were measured in a batch system using a flow cell and ultraviolet absorbance, as a function of initial liquid-phase protein concentration and solid-to-liquid phase ratio. A new mathematical model for adsorption kinetics is presented that fits the experimental data to give a highly linear relationship with time, following a short transient period. Numerical integration of the differential form of the new composite nonlinear (CNL) kinetic model, containing three independent parameters, is shown to describe the dynamics of batch adsorption much better than alternative lumped parameter models. Although the new model is phenomenological rather than mechanistic, its principal parameter is shown to be a direct linear function of a physically measurable quantity. This study demonstrates that the model can accurately simulate protein concentration-time profiles using parameter estimates derived from correlations over a wide range of initial protein concentrations and phase ratios. The new CNL model is shown to be considerably superior to the Langmuir and solid-film linear kinetic models in this regard, having the additional advantage that an equilibrium isotherm for the system is not required.