Study of the mass transfer kinetics in a monolithic column

Abstract

The purpose of this work is to investigate the mass transfer kinetics of butylbenzoate on a monolithic RPLC column, with methanol–water (65:35, v/v) as the mobile phase. We used the perturbation method, measuring the height equivalent to a theoretical plate (HETP) of the peaks obtained as the response to small pulses of solute injected on a concentration plateau. The equilibrium isotherm of butylbenzoate was previously determined by frontal analysis. It is well accounted for by a liquid–solid extended multilayer BET isotherm model. The equilibrium data derived from the pulse method are in excellent agreement with those of frontal analysis in the accessible concentration range of 0 to 8 g/dm 3. Plots of the HETP of small pulses, injected on eight different plateau concentrations, were acquired in a wide range of mobile phase flow velocities. The axial dispersion and the mass transfer kinetic coefficients were derived from these data. The validity of these measurements is discussed. The mass kinetics of butylbenzoate depends strongly on the plateau concentration. Processes involving adsorptive interactions between the solute and the stationary phase, e.g. surface diffusion and adsorption–desorption kinetics, combine in series to the external mass transfer kinetics and to effective pore diffusivity.