Optimization of adsorption conditions of BSA on thermosensitive magnetic composite particles using response surface methodology

Thermosensitive core–shell magnetic composite particles with a magnetic silica core and a rich poly (N-vinylcaprolactam) (PNVCL) shell layer were developed for studying the adsorption of bovine serum albumin (BSA) in a batch system. Various analytical and spectroscopic techniques including SEM, FT-IR, VSM and DSC were used to characterize the adsorbents prepared in this study. The combined effects of operating parameters such as initial temperature, pH and initial BSA concentration on the adsorption were analyzed using response surface methodology. The optimum conditions were 40 °C, pH 4.68, and initial BSA concentration 2.0 mg/mL. Desorption experiments were conducted by altering the system temperature where a high recovery rate of protein was obtained. The separation process developed here indicates that the dual-responsive smart adsorbent could be an ideal candidate for the separation of protein.

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► A simple method for the fabrication of a smart material with a γ-Fe2O3/SiO2 core and thermosensitive poly (N-vinylcaprolactam) (PNVCL) shell was developed.
► The LCST of poly (N-vinylcaprolactam) was not significantly changed after encapsulating the γ-Fe2O3/SiO2 core.
► Response surface methodology (RSM) analysis showed that temperature and initial BSA concentration were the main factors that affected the adsorption capacity.
► The desorption process revealed that temperature played an important role in protein recovery.