The Development of Conductive Nanoporous Chitosan Polymer Membrane for Selective Transport of Charged Molecules

Abstract

We present the development of conductive nanoporous CNT/chitosan membrane for charge-selective transport of charged molecules, carboxylfluorescein (CF), substance P, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α). The membrane was made porous and conductive via gelatin nanoparticle leaching technique and addition of carbon nanotubes, respectively. These nanoporous membranes discriminate the diffusion of positive-charged molecules while inhibiting the passage of negative-charged molecules as positive potential was applied. The permeation selectivity of these membranes is reversed by converting the polarity of applied potential into negative. Based on this principle, charged molecules (carboxylfluorescein, substance P, and TNF-α) are successfully filtered through these membranes. This system shows 30 times more selective for CF than substance P as positive potential was applied, while 2.5 times more selective for substance P than CF as negative potential was applied.