Tailored Robust Hydrogel Composite Membranes for Continuous Protein Crystallization with Ultrahigh Morphology Selectivity

The tailored and robust hydrogel composite membranes (HCMs) with diverse ion adsorption and interfacial nucleation property are prepared and successfully used in the continuous lysozyme crystallization. Beyond the heterogeneous supporter, the HCMs functioning as an interface ion concentration controller and nucleation generator are demonstrated. By constructing accurately controlled nucleation and growth circumstances in the HCM-equipped membrane crystallizer, the target desired morphology (hexagon cube) and brand-new morphology (multiple flower shape) that differ from the ones created in the conventional crystallizer are continuously and repetitively generated with ultrahigh morphology selectivity. These tailored robust HCMs show great potential for improving current approaches to continuous protein crystallization with specific crystal targets from laboratorial research to actual engineering applications.