Sorption

Physical or chemical process by which one substance becomes attached to another

Gas–liquid absorption (a) and liquid–solid adsorption (b) mechanism. Blue spheres are solute molecules.

Sorption is a physical and chemical process by which one substance becomes attached to another. Specific cases of sorption are treated in the following articles:

Absorption
"the incorporation of a substance in one state into another of a different state"[1] (e.g., liquids being absorbed by a solid or gases being absorbed by a liquid);
Adsorption
The physical adherence or bonding of ions and molecules onto the surface of another phase (e.g., reagents adsorbed to a solid catalyst surface);
Ion exchange
An exchange of ions between two electrolytes or between an electrolyte solution and a complex.

The reverse of sorption is desorption.

## Sorption rate

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The adsorption and absorption rate of a diluted solute in gas or liquid solution to a surface or interface can be calculated using Fick's laws of diffusion.

## See also

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* Sorption isotherm

## References

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1. ^ Crini, Grégorio; Badot, Pierre-Marie, eds. (2010). Sorption processes and pollution : conventional and non-conventional sorbents for pollutant removal from wastewaters. Besançon: Presses universitaires de Franche-Comté. p. 43\. ISBN 978-2848673042.

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