Trial and Error Exchange: Molecular Methods Clear Faster and More Cost-Effective Separation Methods

The process of separating useful molecules from mixtures of other substances accounts for 15% of the national energy, releasing 100 million tons of carbon dioxide, costing $4 billion a year.

Commercial manufacturers produce columns of porous materials to separate potential new drugs developed by the pharmaceutical industry, for example, and also separate for energy and chemical production, environmental science, food and drink manufacturing .

However, in a new study, researchers at Case Western Reserve University found that these manufactured separators were not functioning as intended because they were so packed with polymers. In other words, separation is inefficient and unnecessary expensive.

Lydia Kisley of Case Western Reserve, assistant professor of physics and chemistry at Ambrose Swasey, uses what is known as single molecule microscopes to contain solutions containing molecules of interest that are primarily diffused and adsorbed. The solution is adsorbed on the outer edge of the porous material, leaving almost the center. Completely unused.

This study was published in the journal Science Advances.

“These materials are sold as ‘completely porous’, but they’re not,” said Kisley, who led the job. “We were really surprised by this. Why is this material working the way it was designed and not being sold to work?”

Kisley, along with Professor Burcu Gurkan and Professor Christine Duval of the Faculty of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Case School of Engineering, wanted to find out why.

Single-molecule fluorescence microscopy, a specialized technique that allows scientists to visualize and analyze the behavior of individual molecules, allowed Kissley to see molecular dynamics on the nanoscale.

“We use light to allow individual molecules to be observed,” she said.

Gurkan and her lab postdoctoral researcher Muhammad Zeeshan test industry-specified materials first and are advertised by manufacturers, not under the solutions conditions that are used. I realized that it was.

However, by imaging the same material under the conditions used in actual separation, Kissley actually adds so many cellulose materials to capture molecules. I discovered that it was blocking. Using solvents to remove excess material improved potential separation.

Kissley hopes their findings will help manufacturers design more efficient separations. “Half of the cost of bringing new drugs to the market is trying to isolate processes that can take place 10-20 times per substance,” she said.

Single-molecule microscopy techniques can show how separators actually work and predict their performance. If adopted by the industry, this could eliminate the trial and error methods currently used in segregation science, she said.

“Maybe we can get a more efficient separation and eliminate the entire step,” she said. “Think about financial and time savings. We can converge faster with successful drugs to help treat illnesses.”

Kissley cited Ricardo Monge Neria, a graduate student in the Western Reserve of Physics, who led an experimental study and wrote a published paper.

Rachel Saylor, an associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry at Oberlin College, also collaborated on the study, along with researchers from the Swagelok Center, Faculty of Engineering for the Surface Analysis of Materials.