Inverted Colloidal Crystal Membranes

Clemson University, Clemson SC

Investigators

Abstract

Abstract PROPOSAL NUMBER: CBET-0651231 PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: SCOTT HUSSON AFFILIATION: CLEMSON UNIVERSITY PROPOSAL TITLE: INVERTED COLLOIDAL CRYSTAL MEMBRANES A team of Clemson University and Colorado State University faculty will develop inverted colloidal crystal (ICC) membranes for protein separations through the synthesis and haracterization, molecular modeling, and experimental validation. An aim is to take advantage of the highly uniform and controllable pore size, fully interconnected pores, and large void volume of ICC materials for high speed, high efficiency chromatographic bioseparations. While the structural properties of the ICC membranes will be controlled during synthesis, the PIs will use post-synthesis surface modification tools to tailor the chemistry of the ICC membranes. Molecular modeling will play a critical role in the design process, providing a tool for studying the influence of the surface modifications on membrane charge state, and identifying optimized operating pH conditions in a virtual environment. Intellectual Merit It remains a major challenge to create highly porous membrane materials that have precisely controlled pore sizes and narrow pore-size distributions. Another challenge is to understand through modeling how the physicochemical properties of such a membrane would affect its performance to carry out biological separations. Challenges to overcome include: . Designing, synthesizing, and characterizing highly ordered, functionalized ICC membranes . Characterizing the breakthrough response and separation factors for proteins using ICC membranes . Modeling and visualizing ICC membrane properties and protein breakthrough. Since ICC membranes have uniform and controllable pore size and a fully interconnected, periodic pore structure, they will find numerous applications in membrane chromatography. ICC membranes could also represent a new generation of microfiltration and ultrafiltration membranes for bioseparations and biomedical separations. Broader Impacts. The program will involve a team of undergraduates as part of the Undergraduate Creative Inquiry (UCI) Program. The UCI program goals are to educate the students in the methods of scientific research and to promote reasoning, ethical judgment, and effective communication skills. UCI researchers will participate in both bench-top and modeling projects and will be trained in the fundamentals of computer modeling, membrane synthesis, and protein separation. The goal of the outreach activities is to incorporate experimentation and simulation as teaching tools through existing programs targeted at middle school students and middle school math and science educators. Through the Paws for Polymers outreach program, we will teach engineering and science concepts to twelve Hispanic middle school students who come to campus 1-2 times per month. A week-long summer camp program for these students will be conducted as part of the Summer Science, Engineering and Architecture series. Selected camp activities will be used in a similar format for Project WISE, a 1-week residential camp for rising 8th grade girls, and Sneak-A-Peek, a 1-week camp for incoming female freshmen who plan on majoring in engineering, math, or science. The proposed research has potential implications for proteomics research. Fractionating the proteome into its constituents is a major research challenge that must be met in order to identify proteins and their functions, with the ultimate goal of diagnosing and treating diseases. The ICC membranes that are developed will lead to highly efficient protein separations with higher productivity than currently used chromatographic methods, as a result of their highly uniform three-dimensional structures.