Influence of buffer solutions in the adsorption of human serum proteins onto layered double hydroxide

•Layered hydroxide double was synthesized in order to adsorb human serum proteins.•HSA showed higher adsorption using acetate buffer while IgG showed the highest adsorption capacity using TRIS-HCl buffer.•Phosphate buffer (pH=6.5) led to high selectivity to IgG adsorption. The adsorption of human immunoglobulin G (IgG) and human serum albumin (HSA) on a non-calcined Mg-Al layered double hydroxide (3:1 Mg-Al LDH) was studied in batch and fixed bed experiments, focusing on the effect of buffer solution and pH over sorbent uptake. Mg-Al LDH was synthesized and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), N2 adsorption-desorption isotherms at −196°C, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Zero point charge (pHzpc), particle size distribution and Fourier transform infra-red (FTIR). Batch adsorption experiments were performed in order to investigate the effects of pH on IgG and HSA adsorption with different buffers: sodium acetate (ACETATE), sodium phosphate (PHOSPHATE), 3-(N-morpholino) propanesulfonic acid (MOPS), 4-(2-Hydroxyethyl)piperazine-1-ethanesulfonic acid (HEPES) and trizma-hydrochloric acid (TRIS-HCl). Maximum adsorption capacities estimated by the Langmuir model were 239mgg−1 for IgG and 105mgg−1 for HSA in TRIS-HCl buffer. On the other hand, the highest selectivity for IgG adsorption over HSA was obtained with buffer PHOSPHATE (pH 6.5). The maximum IgG and HSA adsorption uptake in this case were 165 and 36mgg−1, respectively. Fixed bed experiments were carried out with both proteins using PHOSPHATE buffer (pH 6.5), which confirmed that IgG was more selectively adsorbed than HSA on Mg-Al LDH and both could be fully recovered by elution with sodium chloride (NaCl).