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As an excellent membrane material, polypropylene microporous membrane (PPMM), has received much consideration in recent years. PPMM has also been used widely in many fields such as water treatment, enzyme immobilization, and blood oxygenation. However, poor surface properties cumber the further applications of this material. Many efforts have been made to solve this problem, and surface modification seems to be the most efficient way. In this article we introduce some work in which surface modification was conducted to reduce nonspecific protein adsorption and to modulate the activity of immobilized enzymes on the PPMM surface. We focus on the studies of our group, although other researches are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protein adsorption and/or deposition at the surface of polymeric membranes play important roles in membrane separation processes. Although polyacrylonitrile-based membranes have been used successfully in many fields, surface modifications to improve the protein resistance and hemocompatibility have received considerable interest. Various methods such as copolymerization, grafting, physical adsorption, biomacromolecule immobilization, and biomimetic modification, have been explored to build a friendly microenvironment for proteins, especially enzymes, at the membrane surface. Herein, the behaviors of proteins at the surfaces of polyacrylonitrile-based membranes are reviewed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]