Biological membranes are ideal for separations as they provide high permeability while maintaining high solute selectivity due to the presence of specialized membrane protein (MP) channels. Several biological membranes also exhibit high channel packing densities, sometimes in the form of two-dimensional (2D) crystals. Despite numerous attempts, successful integration of MPs into practical membranes has remained a significant challenge. We will present an efficient method of preparing self-assembled 2D crystals and nanosheets of highly packed pore-forming MPs in block copolymers and their integration into scalable protein-copolymer biomimetic membranes. These protein nanosheet membranes maintained the molecular selectivity of the three types of β-barrel MPs used, with pore sizes of 0.8 nm, 1.3 nm and 1.5 nm. These biomimetic membranes also demonstrate 20-1000 times greater water permeability than commercial nanofiltrationmembranes with comparable molecular exclusion ratings, thus providing a superior alternative in the challenging sub-nm to few-nm size range.

Self-assembled block copolymer: Membrane protein nanosheets as high-performance membrane materials

2019 Fall National Meeting

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.