Charged polymer brush grafted onto porous hollow-fiber membrane improves separation and reaction in biotechnology

An epoxy-group-containing polymer brush anchored onto the pore surface of a porous hollow-fiber membrane, followed by the introduction of ionizable groups. extends due to mutual electrostatic repulsion, and holds proteins in multilayers. This phenomenon provides novel insight into the static structure and dynamic behavior of the charged polymer brush, and enables highly efficient protein recovery, chiral separation, and enzymatic reaction. Various proteins were recovered using the porous hollow-fiber membranes immobilizing the charged polymer brush at a higher rate and higher capacity compared to bead-packed column because of convection of the protein solution through the pores and multilayering of the proteins in the polymer brush.