The inadequacy of wastewater infrastructure has led to the development of alternative and more efficient and sustainable water purification methods. One of the most common methods is the use of semi-permeable membranes in Forward Osmosis systems. Even though they are the prevailing option, the problems associated with these membranes range from poor pore size distribution, low permeability, and reduced selectivity. To counteract these problems, the intention is to mimic biological conditions one of the ideal forward osmosis systems in nature, the cell membrane. The cell membrane has an active water transport thanks to the action of osmosis, here, proteins are in charge of facilitating water transfer are called Aquaporins (Aqp). Aquaporins are integral proteins surrounded by phospholipids that have high specificity for water, nonetheless, Aqp can also permit the limited flow of uncharged solutes such as ammonia and urea across the membrane.<br/>A form to simulate the biological assembly is to develop a protein-phospholipid conjugate (PPC) that can serve as a reactive membrane material. This material will have high specificity for water, and by achieving full protein mesophase manipulation, contaminant differentiation and selectivity could be achieved. The main objective of the proposed project is to gain insights and to explore on the integration of phospholipid-based polymers and enzymes such as urease and Aqp in order to degrade contaminants like urea, while the water purification process takes place. Since it is also intended to achieve sustainability, there is a desire to recycle the degraded contaminant products and use them for other purposes such as energy storage and generation. Achievement of the desired selectivity and specificity could lead to more cost-effective purification system that can be implemented not only at the industrial level, but also impoverished communities with limited access to clean water.<br/>

Protein-phospholipids conjugates for the design of urea reactive membranes for applications in water purification

255th National Meeting (2018)

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