The potential of limited enzymatic poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) surface hydrolysis for the modification of track-etched (TE) membranes was investigated. Cutinases 1 and 2 from Thermobifida cellulosilytica as well as a fusion protein of cutinase 1 with the polymer binding module from the polyhydroxyalkanoate depolymerase of Alcaligenes faecalis (Thc_Cut1_PBM) were shown to hydrolyse highly crystalline PET TE membranes with a pore diameter of ∼120nm at very narrow size distribution. Furthermore the effects of surface chemistry were investigated by comparison of enzymatic hydrolysis by Thc_Cut1_PBM of "as received" PET TE membranes with two surface functionalized versions towards a "hydrophilic" and a more "hydrophobic" surface. The effects of adsorbed protein and the efficacy of cleaning steps after enzymatic treatment were elucidated by complementary methods for surface analysis and membrane characterization. With the optimized cleaning protocol, all adsorbed protein could be removed from the enzyme-treated membranes and effects of chemical surface functionalization of the PET TE membranes were demonstrated. The highest efficiency of enzymatic surface hydrolysis was observed for the original PET TE membranes, leading to an 0.36% weight loss corresponding to a removal of ∼3nm PET from the entire surface of the porous membrane. This correlates very well with the measured increase of barrier pore diameter by 4nm (a radius reduction? of 2nm), leading to about a two-fold increased water permeability.

中文翻译：

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聚（对苯二甲酸乙二醇酯）的酶水解用于轨道蚀刻膜的孔改性并通过其进行分析

研究了有限酶促聚对苯二甲酸乙二酯 (PET) 表面水解对轨道蚀刻 (TE) 膜改性的潜力。来自 Thermobifida cellulosilytica 的角质酶 1 和 2 以及角质酶 1 与来自粪产碱杆菌的聚羟基链烷酸酯解聚酶 (Thc_Cut1_PBM) 的聚合物结合模块的融合蛋白被证明可以在非常窄的条件下水解孔径为 120nm尺寸分布。此外，通过比较“原样”PET TE 膜的 Thc_Cut1_PBM 的酶水解，对表面化学的影响进行了研究，该膜具有两个表面功能化版本，朝向“亲水”和更“疏水”的表面。通过表面分析和膜表征的补充方法阐明了吸附蛋白质的影响和酶处理后清洁步骤的功效。使用优化的清洁方案，所有吸附的蛋白质都可以从酶处理过的膜上去除，并且证明了 PET TE 膜的化学表面功能化的影响。对于原始 PET TE 膜，观察到酶促表面水解的最高效率，导致 0.36% 的重量损失，对应于从多孔膜的整个表面去除约 3nm PET。这与测量到的屏障孔径增加 4 纳米（半径减小 2 纳米）非常相关，导致透水率增加约两倍。