Dialysis and gaseous diffusion are accomplished by placing a semipermeable membrane between the carrier stream containing the sample and an acceptor stream. Shown here is a flow injection manifold incorporating a semipermeable membrane. The smaller green solutes can pass through the semipermeable membrane and enter the acceptor stream, but the larger blue solutes cannot. Although the separation is not complete—note that some of the green solute remains in the sample stream and exits as waste—it is reproducible if we do not change the experimental conditions.
Liquid–liquid extractions are accomplished by merging together two immiscible fluids, each carried in a separate channel. The result is a segmented flow through the separation module, consisting of alternating portions of the two phases. At the outlet of the separation module the two fluids are separated by taking advantage of the difference in their densities. The illustration below shows a typical configuration for a separation module in which the sample is injected into an aqueous phase and extracted into a less dense organic phase that passes through the detector.
The inset shows the equilibrium reaction. As the sample moves through the equilibration zone, the analyte, A, is extracted from the aqueous phase into the organic phase.
About Author
