Surface active peptides that fish for rare earth elements

This event is sponsored by FAMU-FSU College of Engineering and Department of Chemical & Biomedical Engineering.

Abstract: Currently, the most common process for the separation of rare earth elements (REEs) is solvent extraction, transferring the trivalent REE cations from an aqueous phase into an organic solvent. Solvent extraction is energy intensive and environmentally unfriendly, requiring large volume of organic solvents and organo-phosphate-based surfactants. We have designed a peptide that couples the high affinity of a Lanthanide Binding Tag (LBT) peptide with a surface-active domain that promotes separation at interfaces. This rationally design peptide will coordinate selectively with REE ions to participate in more eco-friendly extraction processes. We demonstrate that we can capture the selectivity of LBT peptides, and we can enhance the surface activity of the peptides through the rational design of both hydrophobicity and net charge.

Raymond Tu

Professor of Chemical Engineering

The City College of New York - CUNY

Speaker Bio: Raymond Tu received his PhD in chemical engineering from the University of California - Santa Barbara in 2004, studying the design and self-assembly of peptide functionalized molecular architectures. He completed a post-doctoral fellowship in 2005 at Georgia Institute of Technology investigating rheological properties of biologically functionalized polymer-based materials. Currently, he is a professor of chemical engineering at The City College of New York - CUNY. The focus of his research program is the synthesis and characterization of surface-active molecular building blocks, which are derived from the combination of elements that direct interfacial assembly with components responsible for selective binding. This methodology is proving to be an effective tool for understanding biologic drug product development and engineering complex composite biomaterials.