Polysulfone affinity membranes for the treatment of amino acid mixtures

Affinity membranes for the treatment of solutions containing amino acids were obtained via lithiating polysulfone that was subsequently converted with glycidylether. From this polymer asymmetric ultrafiltration membranes were cast. The membranes were reacted with iminodiacetic acid yielding membranes fitted out with bidentate chelates. The same reaction path was applied to commercially available symmetric microfiltration membranes. The chelate-bearing membranes were complexed with Cu, Ni, and Zn ions. For the experiments with amino acids only the Cu-complexed membranes were used. The complexation constants for histidine and tryptophan for six different membranes were determined. Because of the affinity of these two amino acids for the complexed Cu ions, they could easily be separated from solutions containing amino acids such as alanine, glycine, and valine. Also, concentrating very dilute amino acid solutions was carried out successfully.