Quantification of single solute and competitive adsorption isotherms using a closed-loop perturbation method

A modification of the classical method of perturbation chromatography for measuring isotherms of the adsorption of dissolved components is suggested. The general principle of the method consists in analyzing responses of the chromatographic system to small perturbations at different equilibrium concentrations. Essential advantages of the method are: (a) only retention times or volumes have to be measured and no detector calibration is required and (b) experiments with mixtures can be performed and analyzed efficiently. The modification suggested in this paper is the application of a closed-loop arrangement allowing the efficient exploitation of the sample. Experimental data for four different chromatographic systems are presented to illustrate the method. With the determined adsorption isotherms elution profiles could be predicted satisfactorily. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.