Cellulose Nanofibrous Membranes Modified with Phenyl Glycidyl Ether for Efficient Adsorption of Bovine Serum Albumin

Abstract

Abstract

Hydrophobic interaction chromatography (HIC) as an indispensable method for protein purification has attracted considerable attentions of researchers as well as biopharmaceutical industries. However, the low binding capacity and slow adsorption rate of the currently available HIC media lead to a little supply and high price of the highly purified proteins. Herein, nanofibrous membranes with hydrophobic binding sites were developed for HIC by directly coupling phenyl glycidyl ether on the hydrolyzed cellulose acetate nanofiber membrane (cellulose-phenyl NFM). Scanning electron microscope (SEM), water contact angle (WCA), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area analysis and capillary flow porometer (CFP) were applied to evaluate the physically and chemically structural transformation. The obtained cellulose-phenyl NFMs showed a proper hydrophilcity (WCA = 37°), a relatively high BET surface area (3.6 times the surface area of commercial fibrous membranes), and tortuous-channel structure with through-hole size in the range of 0.25–1.2 μm, which led to a little non-specificity adsorption, high bovine serum albumin adsorption capacity of 118 mg g⁻¹, fast adsorption process within 12 h, good long-term stability and reusability. Moreover, compared with traditional modification methods which always include activation and graft two steps, direct coupling method is more efficient for HIC media fabrication. Therefore, cellulose-phenyl NFMs with outstanding protein adsorption performance could be a kind of promising candidate for HIC.

Graphic Abstract

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China(51673037)

National Natural Science Foundation of China(51873029)

Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality(18511109500)