Separation of a CaCl2-HCl Model Mixture on Neutral Nanoporous Hypercrosslinked Polystyrene under Static and Dynamic Conditions

The distribution of CaCl₂ and HCl (separately and in a mixture) between the aqueous and nanoporous hypercrosslinked polystyrene sorbent phases was studied under static conditions. It was shown that virtually the whole pore volume of the sorbent was accessible to HCl, whereas CaCl₂ was largely excluded from small pores. It was found that the distribution isotherms of the electrolytes between the phases changed significantly in going from the pure electrolytes to their mixture. Under dynamic (chromatographic) conditions, the elution profiles of CaCl₂ and HCl (separately and in a mixture) were studied. It was shown that the components of the mixture competed for the pore space of the sorbent: small HCl molecules were displaced from large pores and the interstitial space into small pores inaccessible to CaCl₂. (This is why the retention of HCl in the chromatography column significantly increased as the concentration of the mixture grew; that is, both the efficiency and selectivity of separation increased as the column became loaded heavier.) It was found that the degree of hydration of ions decreased as the concentration of the solution increased.