High-affinity sulfonated materials with transition metal counterions for enhanced protein separation in dual-layer hollow fiber membrane chromatography

Development of thin-film composite forward osmosis hollow fiber membranes using direct sulfonated polyphenylenesulfone (sPPSU) as membrane substrates

This study investigates a new approach to fabricate thin-film composite (TFC) hollow fiber membranes via interfacial polymerization for forward osmosis (FO) applications. Different degrees of sulfonation of polyphenylenesulfone (PPSU) were adopted as membrane substrates to investigate their impact on water flux. It has been established that the degree of sulfonation plays a role in both creating a macrovoid-free structure and inducing hydrophilicity to bring about higher water fluxes. The fabricated membranes exhibit extremely high water fluxes of 30.6 and 82.0 LMH against a pure water feed using 2.0 M NaCl as the draw solution tested under FO and pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) modes, respectively, while maintaining low salt reverse fluxes below 12.7 gMH. The structural parameter (S) displays remarkable decreases of up to 4.5 times as the membrane substrate is switched from a nonsulfonated to sulfonated one. In addition, the newly developed TFC-FO membranes containing 1.5 mol % sPPSU in the substrate achieves a water flux of 22 LMH in seawater desalination using a 3.5 wt % NaCl model solution and 2.0 M NaCl as the draw solution under the PRO mode. To the best of our knowledge, this value is the highest ever reported for seawater desalination using flat and hollow fiber FO membranes. The use of sulfonated materials in the FO process opens up a frontier for sustainable and efficient production of potable water.

Poly(amidoamine) dendronized hollow fiber membranes: synthesis, characterization, and preliminary applications as drug delivery devices

Poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM) dendrons were prepared from hollow fiber membranes (HFM) consisting of bromomethylated poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide) (BPPO) in a stepwise manner. The prepared HFM were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, elemental analysis, and scanning electron microscopy. The drug loading efficiency and release behavior of the PAMAM dendronized HFM were evaluated using sodium salicylate, sodium methotrexate, and Congo red as model drugs. The results suggest that PAMAM dendronized HFM can be effectively loaded with a variety of drugs and prolong the release of these drugs. The drug loading and release characteristics of the HFM depend on the generation of PAMAM dendrons grafted on the membranes. The prepared PAMAM dendronized BPPO HFM are promising scaffolds in drug delivery and tissue engineering.

Membrane-based techniques for the separation and purification of proteins: an overview

Membrane processes are increasingly reported for various applications in both upstream and downstream technology, such as microfiltration, ultrafiltration, emerging processes as membrane chromatography, high performance tangential flow filtration and electrophoretic membrane contactor. Membrane-based processes are playing critical role in the field of separation/purification of biotechnological products. Membranes became an integral part of biotechnology and improvements in membrane technology are now focused on high resolution of bioproduct. In bioseparation, applications of membrane technologies include protein production/purification, protein-virus separation. This manuscript provides an overview of recent developments and published literature in membrane technology, focusing on special characteristics of the membranes and membrane-based processes that are now used for the production and purification of proteins.