Studies on Permeation of Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) Through Photo-Modified Functionalized Asymmetric Membrane

Abstract

UV-initiated photo-modification by hydrophilic functional moieties (viz. acrylic acid, acrylamide) is performed on the photo-responsive Polyether sulfone (PES) membrane. Characterization of the modified membranes has been done by porometry, Fourier Transform-IR (FTIR), contact angle, thermogravimetry, X-ray diffraction and gel permeation chromatography. The grafting of acrylamide is higher compared to acrylic acid, as is evidenced from weight increase, as well as porometry studies. The separation abilities of Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) have been experimented through all the membranes and results show that modified membranes possess a better separation ability compared to virgin polyether sulfone. The separation order follows the trend: PES-g-(AM) > PES-g-(AA) > PES. pH dependence conformational changes of BSA macromolecule influence the separation. The increase in pH results in the decreasing trend in separation. The water flux recovery ratio (FRR) for the virgin PES membrane is minimum compared to other two grafted membranes.