Transport and separation of proteins across platinum-coated nanoporous alumina membranes

Abstract

In this work, we report the selective transport of three proteins, bovine serum albumin (BSA), lysozyme (Lys) and myoglobin (Mb) across a conductive nanoporous alumina membrane. The membrane was made conductive via a physical metal sputtering process. The initial fluxes of three different proteins transported across the platinum-coated membrane with nano-sized channels were compared under varying potentials applied across the membrane. The method was 10-16 times more selective for the Lys cations than for BSA anions and 4-5 times more selective for the neutral Mb molecules than for BSA anions. © 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.