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Increasing Salt Rejection Of Polybenzimidazole Nanofiltration Membranes Via The Addition Of Immobilized And Aligned Aquaporins, Priyesh Ashokrao Wagh, Xinyi Zhang, Ryan Blood, Peter M. Kekenes-Huskey, Prasangi Rajapaksha, Yinan Wei, Isabel C. Escobar
Increasing Salt Rejection Of Polybenzimidazole Nanofiltration Membranes Via The Addition Of Immobilized And Aligned Aquaporins, Priyesh Ashokrao Wagh, Xinyi Zhang, Ryan Blood, Peter M. Kekenes-Huskey, Prasangi Rajapaksha, Yinan Wei, Isabel C. Escobar
Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications
Aquaporins are water channel proteins in cell membrane, highly specific for water molecules while restricting the passage of contaminants and small molecules, such as urea and boric acid. Cysteine functional groups were installed on aquaporin Z for covalent attachment to the polymer membrane matrix so that the proteins could be immobilized to the membranes and aligned in the direction of the flow. Depth profiling using x-ray photoelectron spectrometer (XPS) analysis showed the presence of functional groups corresponding to aquaporin Z modified with cysteine (Aqp-SH). Aqp-SH modified membranes showed a higher salt rejection as compared to unmodified membranes. For 2 M …