adsorbentn.

1906 Techn. Bull. (N.Y. Agric. Exper. Station) No. 3. 146 When an acid or other substance is adsorbed from solution, the initial concentration, however small, is always reduced by contact with the adsorbent.

1928 W. A. Caspari Struct. & Prop. Matter ii. 38 Animal and vegetable fibres..are tolerably good adsorbents, owing to the large surfaces presented by their internal structure.

1975 B. L. Williams & K. Wilson Biologist's Guide to Princ. & Techniques Pract. Biochem. iii. 58 Adsorbents used in t.l.c. [thin layer chromatography] differ from column adsorbents in that they may contain a binding agent such as calcium sulphate.

2005 Nature 14 July 188/1 Adsorption occurs on the internal surface of the pores, usually through the onset of van der Waals forces between adsorbate and adsorbent.