3. Biological equipment for pollutant separation and/or preconcentration

3.1 General

Two types of biological element have shown real potential in the development of supports for separation and analytical preconcentration: antibodies and whole cells, the latter of which can be used either dead or alive. In both cases, the biological element is immobilized on or in a support for use as a cartridge, column or disk. The sample percolates through the material, and only compounds with an affinity for the support are retained. After a possible washing step, an elution step recovers the analytes. It is therefore possible to simultaneously extract compounds of interest, pre-concentrate them and purify the sample, in dynamic mode, in-line or off-line.