Synthetic ion-exchange resins are high-molecular-mass polymers that contain large

numbers of an ionic functional group per molecule. Cation-exchange resins contain

acidic groups, while anion-exchange resins have basic groups. Strong-acid-type
exchangers have sulfonic acid groups (}SO3
2H1) attached to the polymeric matrix
(see Figure 31-5) and have wider application than weak-acid-type exchangers, which
owe their action to carboxylic acid (}COOH) groups. Similarly, strong-base anion
exchangers contain quaternary amine [}N(CH3)3
1OH2] groups, while weak-base
types contain secondary or tertiary amines.
Cation exchange is illustrated by the equilibrium
xRSO3
2H1 1 Mx1 8 (RSO3
2)xMx1 1 xH1
solid soln solid soln
where Mx1 represents a cation and R represents that part of a resin molecule that
contains one sulfonic acid group. The analogous equilibrium involving a strong-base
anion exchanger and an anion Ax2 is
xRN(CH3)3
1OH2 1 Ax2 8 [RN(CH3)3
1]xAx2 1 xOH2
solid soln solid soln

SKOOG p. 897.

The differing abilities of substances to adhere to the surfaces of solids can also be used to separate mixtures. This
ability is the basis of chromatography, a technique shown in Figure 1.14. [Brown; page 14]

There are many uses for ion-exchange resins. They are used in many cases to eliminate
ions that would otherwise interfere with an analysis. For example, iron(III),
aluminum(III), and many other cations tend to coprecipitate with barium sulfate
during the determination of sulfate ion. Passing the solution that contains sulfate
through a cation-exchange resin results in the retention of these interfering cations
and the release of an equivalent number of hydrogen ions. Sulfate ions pass freely
through the column and can be precipitated as barium sulfate from the effluent.
Another valuable application of ion-exchange resins is to concentrate ions from a
dilute solution. Thus, traces of metallic elements in large volumes of natural waters
can be collected on a cation-exchange column and subsequently liberated from the
resin by treatment with a small volume of an acidic solution. The result is a considerably
more concentrated solution for analysis by atomic absorption or ICP emission
spectrometry (see Chapter 28).

Ion chromatography
as it is practiced today was first developed in the mid-1970s when it
was shown that anion or cation mixtures can be resolved on HPLC columns packed
with anion-exchange or cation-exchange resins. At that time, detection was generally

performed with conductivity measurements, which were not ideal because of high
electrolyte concentrations in the mobile phase. The development of lowexchangecapacity
columns allowed the use of low-ionic-strength mobile phases that could be
further deionized (ionization suppressed) to allow high sensitivity conductivity detection.
Currently, several other detector types are available for ion chromatography,
including spectrophotometric and electrochemical. 7
Two types of ion chromatography are currently in use: suppressor-based and
single-column. They differ in the method used to prevent the conductivity of the
eluting electrolyte from interfering with the measurement of analyte conductivities.
SKOOG page 964

33D-2 Single-Column Ion chromatography

Commercial ion chromatography instrumentation that requires no suppressor column
is also available. This approach depends on the small differences in conductivity
between sample ions and the prevailing eluent ions. To amplify these differences,
low-capacity exchangers are used that permit elution with solutions with low electrolyte
concentrations. Furthermore, eluents of low conductivity are chosen.
Single-column ion chromatography offers the advantage of not requiring special
equipment for suppression. However, it is a somewhat less sensitive method for
determining
anions than suppressor-column methods.

http://www.intechopen.com/books/ion-exchange-technologies/the-role-of-ionexchange-chromatography-in-purification-and-characterization-of-molecules
http://www.intechopen.com/books/column-chromatography/ion-exchangechromatography-and-its-applications
http://cdn.intechopen.com/pdfs-wm/43603.pdf
http://www.separations.us.tosohbioscience.com/ServiceSupport/TechSupport/Resour
ceCenter/PrinciplesofChromatography/IonExchange