Grafted islands-in-the-sea nonwoven for high capacity ion exchange bioseparation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11027243-B2
Application number	US-201615748988-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 28, 2016
Priority date	Jul 30, 2015
Publication date	Jun 8, 2021
Grant date	Jun 8, 2021

Abstract

The invention provides polymer-grafted and functionalized nonwoven membranes adapted for use in bioseparation processes, the membranes including a nonwoven web of polyester fibers having an average fiber diameter of less than about 1.5 microns, each of the plurality of polyester fibers having grafted thereon a plurality of polymer segments constructed of a methacrylate polymer, each polymer segment carrying a functional group adapted for binding to a target molecule. The invention also provides a method of bioseparation comprising passing a solution comprising the target molecule, such as a protein, through the nonwoven membrane of the invention such that at least a portion of the target molecule in the solution binds to the nonwoven membrane. A method for preparing a polymer-grafted and functionalized nonwoven membrane adapted for use in bioseparation processes is also provided.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for preparing a polymer-grafted and functionalized nonwoven membrane adapted for use in bioseparation processes, comprising:
i) receiving a nonwoven web comprising a plurality of islands-in-the-sea fibers or a plurality of island fibers remaining after removal of the sea component of bicomponent islands-in-the-sea fibers;
ii) optionally, removing the sea component of the bicomponent islands-in-the-sea fibers to expose the island fibers thereof;
iii) grafting a methacrylate polymer onto a surface of the island fibers to form a plurality of polymer segments covalently attached thereto, thereby forming grafted island fibers, the grafting step comprising contacting the nonwoven web with a solution comprising an initiator and at least one methacrylate monomer and exposing the nonwoven web to ultraviolet light having a wavelength of 365 nm and intensities between 1 and 30 mW/cm 2 to initiate polymerization of the at least one methacrylate monomer, wherein the nonwoven web is not subjected to a separate UV pretreatment; and
iv) optionally, functionalizing the grafted island fibers to attach at least one functional group adapted for binding to a target molecule to each of the plurality of polymer segments of the grafted island fibers.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the island fibers are constructed of polybutylene terephthalate and the methacrylate polymer is polyGMA.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein a concentration of monomer in the solution is about 5 to about 50% v/v and the initiator is present in a molar ratio of initiator to monomer of about 1:100 to about 1:5.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the initiator is benzophenone.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of island fibers has an average fiber diameter of less than 1.5 microns.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the methacrylate polymer comprises one or more monomers selected from the group consisting of glycidyl methacrylate, methacrylic acid, 2-(diethylamino)ethyl methacrylate, [2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl]trim ethyl-ammonium chloride, 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate, 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulfonic acid, 2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate, butyl methacrylate, 3-chloro-2-hydroxypropyl methacrylate, 2-ethylhexyl methacrylate, and combinations thereof.

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the average fiber diameter is about 1 micron or less.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one functional group is adapted for cation or anion exchange with the target molecule.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the nonwoven web has a specific BET surface area of at least 1.5 m 2 /g.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the target molecule is a protein.

Assignees

• Univ North Carolina State

Inventors

• Heller Michael Leonard
• Carbonell Ruben G
• Pourdeyhimi Behnam

Classifications

• B01D71/48 Primary

  Polyesters · CPC title

• B01D71/401

  Polymers based on the polymerisation of acrylic acid, e.g. polyacrylate · CPC title

• B01D67/00931

  by introduction of specific groups after membrane formation, e.g. by grafting · CPC title

• B01D67/003

  by selective elimination of components, e.g. by leaching · CPC title

• B01D71/82 Primary

  characterised by the presence of specified groups, e.g. introduced by chemical after-treatment · CPC title