Bachelor thesis or master thesis

Investigation of the purification of oligosaccharide-nucleoside mixtures in a novel membrane filtration system

Background:
Glycans are a particular focus of research. Human milk oligosaccharides, for example, play an important role in biological mechanisms such as the protection of the gastrointestinal tract against toxins or in the brain development of infants. On the way to sustainable production of such molecules, low-energy and clean purification methods are needed.  
In the bioprocess technology working group at the IFG, a novel membrane module was developed for the buffer exchange and concentration of proteins. In a next step, this module is to be equipped with nanofiltration membranes in order to create the prerequisites for a novel process for simultaneous, one-step concentration with buffer exchange.

Task:
This thesis will investigate the concentration and purification of solutions containing both saccharides and nucleosides using a novel 3D-printed membrane module. The work packages include:

- Investigation of the purification of saccharide-nucleoside mixtures using classical tangential filtration.
- Optimisation of the operating conditions for the purification of saccharide-nucleoside mixtures in a novel membrane module with respect to:
o Possibility of in-situ concentration with simultaneous buffer exchange.
o purity and yield of the target molecule
- Extension of an existing Comsol model of the membrane module to simulate the separation of saccharides and nucleosides using nanofiltration membranes.

Literature:
Tan, Ruijie (2021): Novel Single-unit Membrane Filtration System for Concentration and Buffer Exchange of Protein Solutions using Continuous Ultrafiltration/Diafiltration.
Supervision:
In addition to the scientific supervision by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Matthias Franzreb, Mr./Mrs. xx is supported in the practical implementation of the work by Mr. M. Sc. Ulrich Thiele.
Contact:
Ulrich.thiele@kit.edu