Influence of pH on the adsorption of lysozyme on a sulfonated membrane with and without poly(ethyleneimine)

Adsorption of polymers represents an usual way to modify solid/liquid interfaces for many applications, especially in biotechnology and biomedical applications. For instance, in hemodialysis, the blood/membrane interface could trigger many biochemical systems. We examined the influence of a polyethyleneimine external treatment of a membrane to the accessibility of small proteins to the internal part.

The presence of the PEI layer does not constitute a real barrier to the penetration of lysozyme molecules to the core of the membrane, although PEI and lysozyme do bear the same (global) kind of electrical charge.