Abstract
Radiation-induced graft polymerization is applicable to the modification of various shapes of trunk polymers; by this technique, we have prepared novel ion-exchange materials based on porous hollow-fiber membranes made of polyethylene. The ion-exchange-group-containing polymer chains were appended onto the pore surface uniformly across the membrane. This assisted in the transport of target ions to the ion-exchange group by convective flow. In addition, the graft chains extended from the pore surface toward the pore interior due to electrostatic repulsion. This phenomenon enabled the multilayer binding of proteins into the graft chains. The ion-exchange polymeric materials exhibited superior performance over conventional ionexchange materials.
