Beyond the synthesis of novel solid phases: Review on modelling of sorption phenomena

A large number of new solid phases have been proposed in the literature during the past decade with a large variety of purposes: separation and preconcentration for the solid phase extraction, specific chromatographic applications, assemblies of devices for recognition of a family of substances, sensors for a single species identification. In spite of this variety of materials, their properties are mostly depicted by physical descriptors and operational exchange properties, instead of quantities independent of the experimental conditions. In the present review the methods proposed for the description of the sorption phenomena, from the thermodynamic, kinetic and dynamic point of view, will be critically reviewed, focusing on general methods to describe the sorption that could be used in alternative to descriptive and operational approaches.