preferential sorption

Synonym: selective sorption in polymer chemistry

in polymers
An equilibrium phenomenon, operative in polymer solutions in multicomponent solvents and in polymer networks swollen by multicomponent solvents, that produces differences in solvent composition in the polymer-containing region and in the pure solvent which is in thermodynamic equilibrium with that region. Synonymous with selective sorption.
Source:
Purple Book, p. 59