Preparation of polysulfone-based cation-exchange membranes and their application in protein separation with a plate-and-frame module

• Published in: Reactive & functional polymers Vol. 59; no. 2; pp. 171 - 183
• Main Authors: Fang, Jen-Kai, Chiu, Hsin-Chieh, Wu, Jeng-Yue, Suen, Shing-Yi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01.05.2004; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Breakthrough curve; Cation-exchange membrane; Egg white; Exact sciences and technology; Exchange resins and membranes; Forms of application and semi-finished materials; Lysozyme; Plate-and-frame module; Polymer industry, paints, wood; Polysulfone; Sulfonation; Technology of polymers; Plate-and-frame module; Cation-exchange membrane; Sulfonation; Egg white; Polysulfone; Lysozyme; Breakthrough curve; Porous membrane; Specific surface area; Property processing relationship; Membrane separation; Pore size; Wettability; Functionalization; Surface properties; Growth from solution; Separation capacity; Sulfone polymer; Enzyme; Liquid solid adsorption; Phase reversal; Experimental study; Functional polymer; Protein; Structure processing relationship; Sulfonate polymer; Chemical modification; Cation exchange capacity; Glycosidases; Morphology; Preparation; Cation exchange membrane; Hydrolases; Porosity; O-Glycosidases
• ISSN: 1381-5148
• DOI: 10.1016/j.reactfunctpolym.2004.01.008

In this study, polysulfone-based cation-exchange membranes were successfully prepared through a sulfonation procedure and a membrane preparation process. By comparing the results from different conditions, the most favorable sulfonation condition is to react at 75 °C for 4 h, whereas the optimal preparation process is casting a 70 °C solution of 2 g sulfonated polysulfone in a 8 ml mixture of polyethylene glycol: 1-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone (v:v) = 5:3, exposing the film to an air of 50% relative humidity at room temperature for 3 min, and then immersing it into a 27 °C water bath. The prepared cation-exchange membranes (90 μm thick) had a water content of 0.68 and an ion-exchange capacity of 2.9 μeq/cm 2. In the batch adsorption at pH 7.4, the saturation capacity of cationic lysozyme was 0.0098 μmol/cm 2 and anionic BSA was not adsorbed. In the flow adsorption process with a 10-piece membrane stack in the plate-and-frame module, the results show that lysozyme and BSA were effectively separated and the lysozyme recovery was higher than 93%. The effects of inlet flow rate and operation mode were insignificant on the separation performance. In the last part of this paper, the isolation of lysozyme from hen egg white was conducted in a flow process with only one piece of the prepared cation-exchange membrane. A purification effectiveness of 20.7 and a lysozyme recovery of 51.1% were achieved at a flow rate of 10 ml/min.