Small molecule sorption and desorption in and out of iota-carrageenan gels

Abstract

Small molecule sorption and desorption in and out of Iota-Carrageenan was studied by using steady-state fluorescence (SSF) technique. Pyranine dissolved in water used as fluorescence probe. Fluorescence emission intensity, I-p from pyranine was monitored for studying sorption and desorption processes at various temperatures. The Fickian model was applied to produce sorption, D-s, early desorption, D-ed, and desorption, D-d, coefficients. Corresponding activation energies were obtained and found to be 20.5 kJ mol(-1), 7.0 kJ mol(-1) and 34.9 kJ mol(-1), respectively. The observed D-ed value is an order of magnitude smaller than the D-s and D-d coefficients. On the other hand, sorption processes were shown to be twice as fast as desorption processes.