Alendronic acid/Cu-MOF-74 nanorods arrayed interlayer regulated nanofiltration membrane to separate glutathione from amino acids

Purification of glutathione (GSH) from fermentation broth is crucial for production process. Here, we built a new nanofiltration (NF) membrane to separate glutathione from amino acids, which mainly refer to glutamate (Glu) and glycine (Gly). An alendronic acid (AA)/Cu-MOF-74 nanorods arrayed interlayer is constructed on the substrate. The designed interlayer can adsorb a significant amount of piperazine (PIP), enhancing the reaction crosslinking degree of interfacial polymerization. The Cu-MOF-74 morphology contributes a wrinkled membrane surface structure with large specific surface area. The optimal NF membrane achieved the permeability of 7.13 L·m −2 ·h −1 ·bar −1 with high selective separation factor of 20.06, 25.88, 25.46 for GSH/Glu, GSH/Gly and GSH/NaCl, respectively. This work offers a potential solution to develop high-performance NF membranes for purification of biological molecules.