TY - JOUR
T1 - A critical assessment of the Flory-Huggins (FH) theory to predict aqueous two-phase behaviour
AU - Bussamra, Bianca Consorti
AU - Sietaram, Devi
AU - Verheijen, Peter
AU - Mussatto, Solange I.
AU - da Costa, Aline Carvalho
AU - van der Wielen, Luuk
AU - Ottens, Marcel
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Authors
PY - 2021/1/15
Y1 - 2021/1/15
N2 - This article provides an analysis on published models used to calculate phase separation in aqueous two-phase systems (ATPS) based on Flory-Huggins (FH) theory, in terms of problem formulation and mathematical solving algorithm. An integrated algorithm is presented, showing different mathematical approaches of using the FH theory. The algorithm involves the estimation of interchange energy, and the calculation of phase compositions. Based on experimental data, the thermodynamic model can provide a useful framework to perform a sensitivity analysis on parameters, in order to understand the influence of salt type, polymer molecular mass, and ionic strength on phase separation. However, this model, restricted to entropic and enthalpic terms, cannot quantitatively describe the data. This occurs mainly because of the strong influence of random experimental errors on the estimation of interchange energy and FH not being an exact description of phase separation in salt based ATPS. After providing a literature overview and mathematical analysis, we bring to the field the application of the FH theory for selecting ATPS and its limitations.
AB - This article provides an analysis on published models used to calculate phase separation in aqueous two-phase systems (ATPS) based on Flory-Huggins (FH) theory, in terms of problem formulation and mathematical solving algorithm. An integrated algorithm is presented, showing different mathematical approaches of using the FH theory. The algorithm involves the estimation of interchange energy, and the calculation of phase compositions. Based on experimental data, the thermodynamic model can provide a useful framework to perform a sensitivity analysis on parameters, in order to understand the influence of salt type, polymer molecular mass, and ionic strength on phase separation. However, this model, restricted to entropic and enthalpic terms, cannot quantitatively describe the data. This occurs mainly because of the strong influence of random experimental errors on the estimation of interchange energy and FH not being an exact description of phase separation in salt based ATPS. After providing a literature overview and mathematical analysis, we bring to the field the application of the FH theory for selecting ATPS and its limitations.
KW - Aqueous two-phase systems
KW - Flory-Huggins interaction parameter
KW - Flory-Huggins theory
KW - Interchange energy estimation
KW - Sensitivity analysis
KW - Thermodynamic modelling
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85090847885&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.seppur.2020.117636
DO - 10.1016/j.seppur.2020.117636
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85090847885
SN - 1383-5866
VL - 255
JO - Separation and Purification Technology
JF - Separation and Purification Technology
M1 - 117636
ER -