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Ray's Work on PVA-Carbon Nanotube Membranes Now Published

Work in collaboration with Professor David Jassby

Exciting news that Raymond Yeung's manuscript entitled "Single and binary protein electroultrafiltration using poly(vinyl-alcohol)-carbon nanotube (PVA-CNT) composite membranes" is now published in PLOS One. This manuscript addressed the potential of using electrically conductive carbon nanotube-based composite membranes for effective electroultrafiltration of single and binary protein solutions. In this work α-lactalbumin (14.2 k Da) and hen egg-white lysozyme (14.3 k Da) solutions were separated using poly(vinyl alcohol) and carboxylated multi-walled carbon nanotube composite membranes (30 kDa nominal MWCO) that was operated as a cathode. Following zeta potential measurements and SEM analysis, it was determined that the non-ideality in the permeate flux and protein sieving behavior is dominated by protein adsorption at the cathodic membrane. At solution pH of 7.4, low ionic strength of 4 mM, and transmembrane pressure of 1 psi, application of -4.6 V vs. Ag/AgCl resulted in temporary enhancements in the protein sieving (for single protein EUF) and protein selectivity (for binary protein EUF). These results show promise for the use of electrically conductive ultrafiltration membranes for separation of similarly sized charged proteins.