Practical Techniques for Improving the Performance of Polymeric Membranes and Processes for Protein Separation and Purification

Protein separation and purification technologies play an essential role in various industries including but not limited to pharmaceuticals, dairy as well as the food sector. Accordingly, a wide variety of techniques such as chromatography and electrophoresis have been developed and utilized extensively over the years for this purpose. Despite their widespread acceptance, conventional techniques still suffer from major limitations and complexities such as short lifetime, low productivity, high-pressure drop and difficulty in scale-up among others. Membrane separation processes have received significant attention in recent years as a promising alternative that can potentially overcome the problems associated with the conventional technologies due to their spectacular features. The prime advantages offered by the membrane-based processes for protein separation and purification include tunable properties, cost-effectiveness, superb productivity, as well as energy efficiency. The present manuscript aims to highlight the significant aspects of the established protein separation and purification technologies by addressing the principal concepts and highlighting their characteristics. Special attentions are paid to the membrane-based processes by providing detailed features and specifications involved in each individual process, especially from the industrial perspective. Furthermore, the recent and ongoing progress on strategies and practical techniques towards improvement in performance of membranes for separation and purification of various proteins is introduced and discussed in details.