Partition:

The methods based on partition require two phases and there has to be a redistribution of components between these two phases. A few significant categories of methods fall under this types and they are as follows:

• Liquid-liquid extraction
• Liquid-liquid partition chromatography
• Gas-liquid chromatography

Liquid-liquid extraction is popularly known as solvent extraction. When a solute is brought in contact with two immiscible solvents one of which is invariably water and the other organic, then it distributes itself in them within a fixed ratio. In certain favorable conditions, the solute of interest can be more or less completely transferred from one phase to another. This purification method searches applications in separation, purification and enrichment.