US-12623190-B2 - Fabrication of aquaporin-based biomimetic membrane

US12623190B2US 12623190 B2US12623190 B2US 12623190B2US-12623190-B2

Abstract

Methods of fabricating a membrane comprising proteoliposomes having protein water channels are provided herein. The method may include providing a porous substrate, depositing a solution containing proteoliposomes on the porous substrate, and then contacting the porous substrate with an aqueous monomer solution and an organic monomer solution to form a selective layer on the porous substrate embedding the proteoliposomes. The method may include depositing the aqueous monomer solution, then the solution containing the proteoliposomes, then the organic monomer solution, to form the selective layer. The present disclosure also describes the membrane and a system operable to accommodate both methods.

Inventors

Rong Wang
Saren Qi
Ye Li

Assignees

NANYANG TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20200108
Priority Date: 20190108

Claims (13)

1 . A method of fabricating a membrane comprising proteoliposomes having protein water channels, the method comprising: providing a porous substrate; spraying a solution comprising the proteoliposomes on the porous substrate to cover a surface of the porous substrate with the proteoliposomes; drying the porous substrate having the solution deposited thereon to form a porous substrate having a layer of proteoliposomes deposited directly thereon; contacting the porous substrate having the layer of proteoliposomes deposited directly thereon with an aqueous monomer solution followed by an organic monomer solution; and carrying out interfacial polymerization on the aqueous monomer solution and the organic monomer solution to form a selective layer covering the layer of proteoliposomes on the porous substrate.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein spraying the solution comprises moving the porous substrate unidirectionally under a discharge module which sprays the solution on the porous substrate.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the solution further comprises a (i) surfactant and/or (ii) a salt, wherein the surfactant comprises n-octyl-P-D-glucoside, n-octanoylsucrose, n-nonanoylsucrose, n-decanoylsucrose, n-undecyl-P-D-glucopyranoside, n-undecyl-P-D-thioglucoside, n-undecyl-β-O-thiomaltoside, n-undecyl-P-D-thiomaltopyranoside, n-undecyl-β-O-thioglucopyranoside, or a combination thereof, wherein the salt comprises sodium chloride, magnesium chloride, monosodium phosphate, or a combination thereof.
4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the surfactant is present in the solution at a concentration ranging from 0.0002 wt % to 2 wt %.
5 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the salt is present in the solution at a concentration ranging from 0.001 M to 0.5 M.
6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein contacting the porous substrate with the aqueous monomer solution followed by the organic monomer solution comprises soaking the porous substrate in the aqueous monomer solution prior to soaking the porous substrate in the organic monomer solution.
7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the porous substrate is formed of a polymer comprising polyetherimide, cellulose ester, polyacrylonitrile, polysulfone, polyethersulfone, polyvinylidene fluoride, cellulose acetate, or a derivative thereof.
8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the porous substrate is formed of an inorganic material comprising carbon, titanium, aluminum oxide, or ceramic.
9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the solution comprises the proteoliposomes in a concentration ranging from 1 mg/ml to 100 mg/ml.
10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein contacting the porous substrate with the aqueous monomer solution followed by the organic monomer solution comprises (i) dissolving a polyfunctional amine in an aqueous solution to form the aqueous monomer solution; and (ii) dissolving a polyfunctional acyl chloride or a polyfunctional sulfonyl chloride in an organic solvent to form the organic monomer solution.
11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the polyfunctional amine comprises o-phenylenediamine, m-phenylenediamine, or piperazine.
12 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the polyfunctional acyl chloride comprises trimesoyl chloride, isophthaloyl chloride (IPC), 5-isocyanato-isophthaloyl chloride (ICIC), or 5-chloroformyloxy-isophthaloyl chloride (CFIC).
13 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the polyfunctional sulfonyl chloride comprises 1,5-naphthalene-bisulfonyl chloride, 1,3-dimethyl 2-imidazolidinone, or 1,3-dioxo-1,3-dihydroisobenzofuran-5-sulfonyl chloride.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application claims the benefit of priority of Singapore Patent Application No. 10201900164Y, filed 8 Jan. 2019, the content of it being hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes. TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates to methods of fabricating a membrane comprising proteoliposomes having protein water channels. The present disclosure also relates to such a membrane, and a system operable to carry out the methods. BACKGROUND Fresh water shortage is worsening due to increasing population and severe environmental contaminations. To produce more clean water, reverse osmosis (RO) and nanofiltration (NF) of wastewater and/or seawater using membranes have been developed over 40 years. Commercial RO and NF membranes that have been developed include thin-film composite (TFC) membranes. Typically, a TFC membrane may have a layered structure, wherein a polyamide selective layer may be formed on top of a porous polymeric substrate having a woven/non-woven layer. The woven/non-woven layer acts as a support to increase mechanical strength of the TFC membrane. The polyamide selective layer may be the barrier critical for separation. The polyamide selective layer may usually be formed by interfacial polymerization. The chemistry and properties of the polyamide layer may be investigated and adjusted for commercial TFC membranes to produce high quality potable water from wastewater and seawater. Producing a high performance TFC membrane with high water permeability, high membrane selectivity, and/or low fouling, reduces chemical consumption, membrane area, operational cost and energy. Having said the above, conventional methods for producing polyamide TFC membrane have limitations. For example, formation of the polyamide layer may compromise the structural integrity of aquaporins to be incorporated to the membrane or even damage the aquaporins. The aquaporins may also be exposed and not properly protected in the resultant membrane, which render the aquaporins easily damaged during wastewater treatment. Some conventional methods may utilize a significant amount of aquaporins. There is thus a need to provide for a solution that ameliorates one or more of the limitations mentioned above. The solution should at least provide for a method of fabricating a membrane comprising proteoliposomes having protein water channels (e.g. aquaporins). SUMMARY In one aspect, there is provided for a method of fabricating a membrane comprising proteoliposomes having protein water channels, the method comprising: providing a porous substrate;depositing a solution on the porous substrate, wherein the solution comprises the proteoliposomes; andcontacting the porous substrate with an aqueous monomer solution and an organic monomer solution to form a selective layer on the porous substrate embedding the proteoliposomes, wherein the solution is deposited prior to contacting the porous substrate with the aqueous monomer solution and the organic monomer solution. In another aspect, there is provided for a method of fabricating a membrane comprising proteoliposomes having protein water channels, the method comprising: providing a porous substrate;contacting the porous substrate with an aqueous monomer solution;depositing a solution on the porous substrate, wherein the solution comprises the proteoliposomes; andcontacting the porous substrate with an organic monomer solution to form a selective layer on the porous substrate embedding the proteoliposomes, wherein the solution is deposited after contacting the porous substrate with the aqueous monomer solution but prior to contacting the porous substrate with the organic monomer solution. In another aspect, there is provided for a membrane comprising: a porous substrate comprising proteoliposomes deposited thereon, wherein the proteoliposomes have protein water channels incorporated therein; anda selective layer formed on the porous substrate, wherein the proteoliposomes are embedded in the selective layer. In another aspect, there is provided for a system for fabricating a membrane comprising proteoliposomes having protein water channels, the system comprising: a plurality of rollers operable to receive and move the porous substrate under a discharge module operable to deposit a solution on the porous substrate, wherein the solution comprises the proteoliposomes; anda contact module operable to have the porous substrate contact an aqueous monomer solution and an organic monomer solution to form a selective layer on the porous substrate. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead generally being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention. In the following description, various embodiments of the present disclosure are described with reference to the following drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram depicting a system and the process of the system for fabricati