发表期刊：Small

发表时间：2025

Abstract:

Separation of easily degradable bioactive compound of astaxanthin (AXT) from nature source with low content and several interfering carotenoid analogues is particularly challenge. Here, four mesoporous metal-organic frameworks (meso-MOFs) is reported with different pore chemistry and pore geometry of cage-type and channel-type feature for AXT adsorption and separation. The maximal adsorption capacities of AXT by cage-type PCN-777 and MIL-101-NH2 are higher than channel-type PCN-222 and NU-1000, and their adsorption capacities (40–469.4 mg g−1) outperform previous benchmark and commercial materials (2.5–26.2 mg g−1). Particularly, NU-1000 achieved the optimal balance between high adsorption capacity (111.3 mg g−1), rapid adsorption kinetic (≈0.5 h), excellent AXT adsorption selectivity over other carotenoid as well as efficient release (86%) for AXT. In addition to the optimal pore geometry, its superior separation performance is driven by multi-sites electrostatic attraction coupling with van der Waals interactions, demonstrated by electrostatic surface potential analysis, density-functional theory calculations and spectroscopy analysis. The practical AXT separation potential from shrimp shell waste is validated by fixed-bed column sorption experiments with nearly 3 times enhancement in purity over initial crude extract. This work provides a new perspective for the development of advanced porous materials for sustainable production of bioactive compounds from nature source.

https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.202508420