Researchers have developed new biomimetic membranes for water treatment and drug delivery. The highly permeable and selective membranes are based on the incorporation of the a water channel protein from the bacteria E.coli, Aquaporin Z, into a novel A-B-A triblock copolymer.

"Aquaporin Z makes a hole in the membrane that only water can go through, so it's both fast and selective," said membrane specialist Mark Clark, a professor of civil and environmental engineering and one of the paper's co-authors.

"By varying the amount of Aquaporin Z, we can vary the membrane's permeability," Kumar said, "which could be very useful for drug-delivery applications."

With their high permeability and high selectivity, the biomimetic membranes also are ideal for water treatment by desalination, which is becoming increasingly important for water purification in semiarid coastal regions.

Initial trials indicate that the productivity of the Aquaporin Z-incorporated polymer membranes was more than 10 times greater than other salt-rejecting polymeric membranes.

Source: UIUC
Image: Sideview of Aquaporin 1 (AQP1) Channel, Source: Wikipedia