Electrospun Fibers of Polybutylene Succinate/Graphene Oxide Composite for Syringe-Push Protein Absorption Membrane

Abstract

The adsorption of proteins on membranes has been used for simple, low-cost, and minimal sample handling of large volume, low protein abundance liquid samples. Syringe-push membrane absorption (SPMA) is an innovative way to process bio-fluid samples by combining a medical syringe and protein-absorbable membrane, which makes SPMA a simple, rapid protein and proteomic analysis method. However, the membrane used for SPMA is only limited to commercially available protein-absorbable membrane options. To raise the method’s efficiency, higher protein binding capacity with a lower back pressure membrane is needed. In this research, we fabricated electrospun polybutylene succinate (PBS) membrane and compared it to electrospun polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF). Rolling electrospinning (RE) and non-rolling electrospinning (NRE) were employed to synthesize polymer fibers, resulting in the different characteristics of mechanical and morphological properties. Adding graphene oxide (GO) composite does not affect their mechanical properties; however, electrospun PBS membrane can be applied as a filter membrane and has a higher pore area than electrospun PVDF membrane. Albumin solution filtration was performed using all the electrospun filter membranes by the SPMA technique to measure the protein capture efficiency and staining of the protein on the membranes, and these membranes were compared to the commercial filter membranes—PVDF, nitrocellulose, and Whatman no. 1. A combination of rolling electrospinning with graphene oxide composite and PBS resulted in two times more captured protein when compared to commercial membrane filtration and more than sixfold protein binding than non-composite polymer. The protein staining results further confirmed the enhancement of the protein binding property, showing more intense stained color in compositing polymer with GO.

Structure/Properties Relationship of Anionically Synthesized Diblock Copolymers “Grafted to” Chemically Modified Graphene

“…The hydrophobic two-dimensional (2-D) sp 2 carbon nanostructures are susceptible to covalent or non-covalent surface chemical modification, inducing functional groups able to react with polymeric chains [ 1 , 5 ]. Grafting polymers on modified graphene sheets results in nanocomposites presenting a combination of properties resulting from both materials, namely improved solubility and interfacial energy alternations [ 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ]. The reaction between polymers and graphene oxide nanosheets involves two methods and specifically the “ grafting from ” [ 17 ], where the GO–initiator complex is primarily prepared in order to initiate the polymerization from the GO surface, and the “ grafting to ” [ 18 ], where the polymeric precursor bearing a functional group reacts with the chemically modified GO [ 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 ].…”

Enhancing protein trapping efficiency of graphene oxide-polybutylene succinate nanofiber membrane via molecular imprinting

“…However, the protein capture efficiency was only 40%, even with the addition of graphene oxide. Although the performance obtained from the nanographene oxide membrane is higher than conventional membrane filtration by up to 2 times, this performance figure indicates that the previous study’s graphene oxide membrane could not filter out all proteins 24 . The study suggests a reduction in the specificity of protein binding to the membrane, resulting in decreased filtration efficiency.…”

Electrospun Composite Nanofibers for Functional Applications

“…RE with GO and PBS showed two times greater capture capacity than commercial membranes and more than sixfold protein binding as compared to the non-composite polymer. Protein staining results further verified the effectiveness of the fabricated membranes by showing a darker stain color [ 31 ]. In another research area, an in vitro cyst model was prepared in which hollow nanofiber spheres were developed, named “nanofiber-mâché balls.” Electrospun nanofibers of a hollow shape were fabricated on alginate hydrogel beads.…”