Development of an automated adsorbent selection strategy for liquid–phase adsorption

Abstract

A systematic and automatic approach for adsorbent selection for liquid–phase adsorption is proposed. Based on physical properties like polarity, pore size, and specific surface, a screening strategy is developed and automated on a robotic platform. Key performance indicators are applied ensuring economically based decisions. The approach developed is verified by adsorption of caffeine out of an aqueous solution with vanillin, uracil, and α–ionon as impurities. The adsorbent selection strategy leads to the polymeric adsorbent SP207 and a specific surface of 15 m2mL−1 ending in a separation cost indicator of 16 € gCaffeine−1. This work proposes an opportunity for accelerated process design strengthened by the usage of robotic devices.