Surface Modification of Electrospun Nylon Nanofiber Based Dye Affinity Membrane and Its Application to Papain Adsorption

Electrospun nylon-6 nanofibrous membrane with fiber diameters in the range of 50-200 nm were prepared and employed as affinity membrane material for papain adsorption due to their excellent chemical and thermal resistance as well as high wettability. In this work, covalent coupling of chitosan (CS) to activated nylon membrane was performed after the reaction of the nanofibrous nylon membrane with formaldehyde. The dye Cibacron Blue F3GA (CB) as a ligand was then covalently immobilized on the CS-coated membranes. Physical properties of the composite membrane and its applications in affinity membrane chromatography were examined. These CB F3GA-attached composite membranes were used in the papain adsorption studies. Higher papain adsorption capacity, up to 133.2 mg/g affinity membrane, was obtained. The chemical-modified CS-nylon nanofiber membrane with the CB as ligand could become the low-cost but high efficiency affinity membranes base for papain separation.