DuPont™ AmberLite™ XAD™ 16N Polymeric Adsorbent Resins

DuPont™ AmberLite™ XAD™ polymeric adsorbent resins are nonionic, macroporous crosslinked resins that selectively adsorb molecules based on a combination of hydrophobic interactions and molecular size. These resins can be used in single-use adsorption mode to capture impurities from products streams for disposal, or they can be regenerated and used in an adsorption/desorption mode to separate products and impurities across many production batches.

DuPont™ AmberLite™ XAD™ 16N is a crosslinked divinylbenzene (DVB) adsorbent resin with water retention capacity of 60-68%, average surface area of 800 m2/g, and a mean pore size of ~150 Å. This resin can be used to adsorb hydrophobic molecules from polar solvents and volatile organic compounds from vapor streams. It is an excellent choice for the adsorption of organic substances of relatively low to medium molecular weight. See Product Data Sheet for more information.

DuPont offers a range of XAD™ products of varying chemistries, particle sizes, surface areas, average porosities, and pore sizes. Products are sold as free-flowing wet resin beads. The main product characteristics to consider when selecting an adsorbent resin for bioprocessing are the following:

but will have higher backpressures.

• Surface Area:

Surface area impacts operational capacity and kinetics, with higher surface area giving

higher operational capacity and faster kinetics.

• Porosity:

Porosity is related to the surface area. Particles with high porosity will have more surface area

for the molecules to interact with, provided the pore size is large enough to accommodate

the molecule. Therefore, higher porosity will generally lead to higher operational capacity.

• Pore Diameter:

Pore diameter impacts the degree of separation and molecule recovery.

Large pores will allow better recovery of large molecules.

• Chemistry:

The chemistry of the resin (DVB vs acrylic) impacts how tightly molecules are held.

Hydrophobic molecules will be more loosely held on acrylic particles, making it easier to

desorb the bound molecules and reducing the amount of solvent required in the desorption step.

Product Data Sheet

FDA Letter

Uses

Capture or recovery of small molecule drugs (e.g., antibiotics, enzymes, proteins)
Removal of non-aromatic compounds from polar solvents
Capture/concentrate of plant or animal extracts
General adsorption of organics from polar and non-polar streams (e.g., polyphenol extraction)

Advantages

Excellent chemical and thermal stability
Stable within a very broad pH range (up to pH 14), and easily cleaned in place (CIP) with most organic solvents and dilute acids and bases, providing the potential for long resin lifetime
High surface area
Low swelling differential between solvent and aqueous media for column efficiency and process robustness