| Abstract: | Bovine serum albumin (BSA) adsorption onto novel and feasible magnetic polyvinylbutyral‐based microbeads was investigated. The microbeads were made of Mowital® B30HH, a commercial product, in the range 125–250 μm by a modified solvent evaporation technique. Magnetite particles were embedded in the polymer structure for favorable magnetic properties, 4.80 emu/g microbeads of saturation magnetization at 6000 Gauss magnetic field. Glutaraldehyde (GA) was used as a bonding agent to increase stability and as a ligand for protein adsorption. The amount of adsorbed BSA was optimized by changing the medium pH and the initial concentrations of GA and BSA. Dynamic adsorption data of batch runs fitted best to Langmiur kinetics. The parameters qmax, k′f and k′r of the model were estimated through nonlinear regression analysis as 138 mg BSA/g adsorbent, 0.058 ml/(mg BSA · min) and 0.002 min−1, respectively, for magnetic microbeads at pH 5.0 and 25°C. The adsorbed BSA was eluted successfully at pH 8.0 and 25°C. Possibly due to surface roughness and magnetic properties, qmax was found higher than the other adsorbents reported in the literature. The results denote that these microbeads can be an alternative protein adsorbent due to high adsorption capacity and rate, as well as remarkable separation characteristics. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 80: 707–715, 2001 |
