Preparation and characterization of poly glycidyl methacrylete–zirconium dioxide–β-cyclodextrin composite matrix for separation of isoflavones through expanded bed adsorption

The specially prepared adsorbent is most important in realizing the expanded bed adsorption (EBA) process. In the present work, a novel poly glycidyl methacrylete–zirconium dioxide–β-cyclodextrin (PGMA–ZrO2–β-CD) composite matrix for EBA has been first prepared. Wet density, water content and pore properties of the composite beads have been investigated, which shows good expansion and stability in EBA. The application of custom-made adsorbent has been investigated to recover isoflavones from soy molasses. The recovery is up to 90% and the purity of isoflavones obtained is 75.4%. Compared with the traditional purification processes, EBA has the advantage of high efficiency and integrality, which leads to large reduction in operation time and cost.