The adsorption equilibrium of bovine serum albumin on Q-sepharose, a s
trong anion exchanger, was studied with batch equilibrium experiments
at pH between 4 and 9 and ionic strengths between 5 and 440 mmol/L. De
pendence of the adsorption equilibrium on the ionic strength was model
ed as an ion exchange reaction. A simplified mechanism of this ion exc
hange reaction also yielded an expression for the dependence of the eq
uilibrium on the charge of the protein. This model describes the measu
rements well, using fitted constants with physically realistic values.