Preparation and BSA Adsorption Behavior of Chitosan-arginine Based Nanofiber Membranes

In this work, an affinity nanofiber membrane was successfully prepared by solution blowing of arginine-modified chitosan (CS-Arg) for bovine serum albumin (BSA) adsorption. CS-Arg was firstly synthesized by coupling L-arginine onto chitosan backbone. Then, CS-Arg nanofiber membranes (CANFs) were fabricated using solution blowing process with Polylactide (PLA) as assistant polymer. The results showed that CANFs effectively adsorbed BSA, and the adsorption capacities were influenced by the degrees of substitution (DS) of arginine in CS, pH value, contact time, and initial protein concentration. The highest adsorption capacity of 445.19 mg/g was achieved uvnder the following conditions: DS of 43.7 %, pH of 7.14, and initial concentration of 3.0 mg/ml. BSA adsorbed on the CANFs membrane conformed to Langmuir model, and the adsorption rate was consistent with the second-order kinetics model. This work implies that an arginine-modified chitosan nanofiber-based novel biomaterial has a potential application in adsorption of BSA.