New Protein-Mimics Developed For Industrial Water Purification

National University of Singapore (NUS) scientists and the French Centre for Scientific Research developed a new class of artificial water channels (AWC) that can make current industrial water purification methods more energy-efficient.

The team led by Professor Prakash Kumar succeeded in synthesizing a special protein-mimic called oligourea foldamers that can transform itself into a pore structure. When integrated into a lipid membrane, the pores, which mimic the functions of aquaporin, allow water to pass through the membrane but reject salts and other pollutants.

Compared to aquaporin or other classes of AWC, oligourea foldamers can be easily modified, synthesized, and purified. This advantage is due to their smaller size, measuring only 10 amino acid residues long.

These protein-mimics are also stronger than other AWCs since the scientists replaced the peptide bonds with urea bonds. With this decision, scientists managed to create foldamers that are less susceptible to microbial and enzymatic degradation.

Read the full article here to learn more about the characteristics and advantages of oligourea foldamers.

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