Preparation of methacrylamide grafted and dye-ligand immobilized PET fibers: Studies of adsorption and purification of lysozyme

In this study, novel affinity chromatographic fibers was prepared from methacrylamide grafted poly(ethylene terephthalate), PET-g-pMAA, using benzoyl-peroxide as an initiator. A dye ligand (i.e., Procion Brown) as a ligand was then covalently immobilized on the different amount of pMAAm grafted PET fibers, (PET-g-pMAAm-PB). The fibers were characterized by surface area measurement, infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Adsorptive properties of the composite fibers were tested using a model protein (i.e., lysozyme). To achieve these purposes, the influence of pH, ionic strength, initial lysozyme concentration, and temperature on adsorption system has been investigated and evaluated. A maximum lysozyme adsorption PET-g-pMAAm-PB fiber was obtained as 43.9 mg g(-1) at pH 7.5. The experimental equilibrium data obtained for lysozyme adsorption onto PET-g-pMAAm-PB fibers fitted well to the Langmuir isotherm model. The result of kinetic analyzed for lysozyme adsorption onto affinity fibers showed that the second-order rate equation was favorable. The purity of the eluted lysozyme, as determined by HPLC, was 84% with recovery 73% for PET-g-pMAAm-PB fiber. Experiments on regeneration and dynamic adsorption were also performed. It appears that PET-g-pMAAm-PB fibers can be applied for lysozyme separation without causing any denaturation. (C) 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.