For practical design and operation of the ion exchange chromatography (IEC) bioseparation systems employed in industry, macroscopic continuum modeling of system-wide dynamics is needed. This requires a qualitative and quantitative knowledge of the characteristics of porous polymeric IEC adsorbent media, including mass transfer and adsorption mechanisms, and rates of the adsorbate biomolecule in the porous media.

Jee-Ching Wang and Athanasios I. Liapis, Missouri University of Science and Technology, USA, developed and employed a systematic methodology and a complete machinery for the construction, study, and design of porous polymeric adsorbent media for bioseparations. They use a combination of molecular dynamics modeling and simulations and macroscopic continuum modeling. The methodology can also be extended to studies of other systems employing porous media including systems involving monoliths, metal-organic-frameworks (MOFs), membranes, and biocatalysts.

• Design of Polymeric Porous Adsorbent Media and the Dynamic Behavior of Transport and Adsorption of Bioactive Molecules in Such Media
  J.-C. Wang, A. I. Liapis,
  Chem. Ing. Tech. 2011, 83 (1–2).
  DOI: 10.1002/cite.201000139