Modeling of size-exclusion chromatography of electrolytes on non-ionic nanoporous adsorbents

A dynamic model has been developed for chromatographic separation of mixed electrolyte solutions with non-ionic nanoporous adsorbents. The thermodynamic equilibrium condition at the pore entrance is written in terms of mixing, electrostatic and size-exclusion effects. The model is tested against experimental data measured with three binary mixtures on hypercrosslinked polystyrene and nanoporous carbon. The selectivity of the nanoporous adsorbents can be explained by the size-exclusion of the electrolytes and enrichment of both electrolytes in frontal chromatographic runs can be correlated satisfactorily with the proposed model. The model is also used to demonstrate continuous separation in a simulated moving-bed (SMB) system.