Ultrathin membranes composed of branched polyethylenimine and poly[(o-cresyl glycidyl ether)-co-formaldehyde] for primary recovery of itaconic acid

Author(s)

Mafalda S. Santos, Christian Schuster, Harald Rennhofer, Helga C. Lichtenegger, Herwig Peterlik, Tim Causon, Alois Jungbauer

Abstract

Efficient primary recovery of building-block chemicals produced by microbial processes, such as biobased itaconic acid, is a key step for environmentally sustainable and economically feasible manufacturing processes. Ultrathin membranes have the potential to address these challenges. Here, ultrathin membranes composed of branched polyethylenimine and poly[(o-cresyl glycidyl ether)-co-formaldehyde] were fabricated using a facile spin coating procedure, and the composition of the casting solution was adjusted to improve the separation performance. The structural properties of the ultrathin membranes (intrinsic porosity, thickness, surface morphology, chemistry, charge, and wettability) were investigated and linked to the separation performance. By increasing the content of polyethylenimine in the casting solution, the transport rate of itaconic acid across the membranes increased up to 40 times. Membranes with a 4:1 mass ratio of polyethylenimine to poly[(o-cresyl glycidyl ether)-co-formaldehyde] reactive groups were selected, and their ability to recover itaconic acid from synthetic solutions and recombinant Pichia pastoris culture supernatant in diffusion-based mode was demonstrated. Experiments with pure solutions of supernatant components demonstrated that the membranes were equally selective for itaconic acid and potential cultivation byproducts and at least 7-times more selective for itaconic acid than culture medium components. Experiments with synthetic complex solutions and culture supernatant confirmed the high selectivity for itaconic acid: the separation performance was similar for complex and pure itaconic acid solutions, despite the significant difference in the complexity of these solutions. This study is the basis for a new technology to recover microbially produced building-block chemicals.

Organisation(s)

Dynamics of Condensed Systems

External organisation(s)

acib – Austrian Centre of Industrial Biotechnology, Paris-Lodron Universität Salzburg, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences

Journal

Separation and Purification Technology

Volume

316

No. of pages

10

ISSN

1383-5866

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seppur.2023.123738

Publication date

07-2023

Peer reviewed

Yes

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

104002 Analytical chemistry, 103015 Condensed matter

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Analytical Chemistry, Filtration and Separation

Portal url

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/ba774348-63f0-4bbc-aa0f-b2987dc15f6c