|
|||||
|
|
Constructing biocatalytic nanochannel membranes for unidirectional isomer conversion and separation |
|
| Authors: | Mei-Ling Liu Lan Hong Yueming Zhu Razi Epsztein Ting Shi Yuanxia Sun Zhijun Xu Shi-Peng Sun Weihong Xing |
| Affiliation: | 1. State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, National Engineering Research Center for Special Separation Membrane, College of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing, China Contribution: Conceptualization (lead), Investigation (lead), Methodology (lead), Project administration (lead), Resources (lead), Supervision (lead), Writing - original draft (lead), Writing - review & editing (lead);2. State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, National Engineering Research Center for Special Separation Membrane, College of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing, China Contribution: Conceptualization (lead), Data curation (lead), Formal analysis (lead), Investigation (lead), Methodology (lead), Validation (lead), Writing - original draft (lead), Writing - review & editing (equal);3. Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tianjin, China Contribution: Resources (equal);4. Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel Contribution: Methodology (equal), Writing - review & editing (equal);5. State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, National Engineering Research Center for Special Separation Membrane, College of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing, China Contribution: Methodology (equal), Writing - review & editing (equal);6. State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, National Engineering Research Center for Special Separation Membrane, College of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing, China |
| Abstract: | Isomer conversion and separation are crucial in the chemical, pharmaceutical, and food industries. However, this process remains challenging due to the reversed conversion of isomers and their similar boiling points and kinetic diameters. Herein, an enzyme-catalyzed nanochannel membrane with a hierarchical structure is fabricated for selective and directional isomeric conversion and separation. The enzyme is embedded in a confined polymer network that shows high stability and retains 95% of its initial activity after 50 reaction cycles. Studying the transport mechanisms between isomers through the membrane shows that the hierarchical layers of the membrane impose unequal energy barriers to the forward and backward transport of products, promoting unidirectional diffusion of products and interrupting the equilibrium of the isomerization reaction to increase the conversion rate by 43%. Overall, this work opens a new avenue for the design of biocatalytic nanochannel membranes and the directional production and in situ separation of isomers. |
| Keywords: | biocatalytic membrane enzyme catalysis interfacial polymerization isomerization nanofiltration |