Researches on the adsorption for triterpene acids by cerium oxide nanoparticles (CeO2 NPs) as adsorbent were carried out. The results demonstrated that CeO2 NPs could selectively adsorb triterpene acids. Using triterpene acid standards as model compounds, the adsorption and desorption conditions were optimized. The adsorption was conformed to be a pseudo-first-order model and single-layer adsorption after being characterized by adsorption kinetics and adsorption thermodynamics. It has been found that the adsorption efficiency of open-ring type triterpene acids was better than that of closed-ring type triterpene acids. The CeO2 NPs was successfully applied to enrichment and selective separation of triterpene acids in the crude extract of Poria cocos. The adsorption by CeO2 NPs has the advantages of high efficiency, low energy consumption and high selectivity, and is expected to become an alternative to traditional triterpene acid separation techniques such as chromatographic separation methods and liquid-liquid extraction enrichment techniques.
Keywords: Cerium oxide nanoparticles; Enrichment; Selective adsorption; Separation; Triterpene acids.
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