Carbon-Decorated TiO₂ Nanotube Membranes: A Renewable Nanofilter for Charge-Selective Enrichment of Proteins

In this work, we design a TiO2 nanomembrane (TiNM) that can be used as a nanofilter platform for selective enrichment of specific proteins. After a first use, the photocatalytic properties of TiO2 allow the decomposition of unwanted remnants on the substrate and thus make the platform reusable. To construct this platform, we fabricate a free-standing TiO2 nanotube array and remove the bottom oxide to form a both-end-open TiNM. By pyrolysis of the natural tube wall contamination, the walls become decorated with graphitic carbon patches (C/TiNM). Owing to the large surface area, the amphiphilic nature and the charge-adjustable character, this C/TiNM can be used to extract and enrich hydrophobic charged biomolecules. Using human serum albumin (HSA) as a model protein as well as protein mixtures, we show that the composite membrane exhibits a highly enhanced loading capacity and protein selectivity and is reusable after a short UV treatment.