Amine-functionalized biochar: Highly re-useable and green alternative for heparin recovery from porcine intestinal mucosa

Heparin is an invaluable pharmaceutical ingredient typically recovered from bovine lung or porcine intestinal mucosa by a complex and costly multi-step process. The design of an efficient environmentally improved adsorbent that has high adsorption capacity and high thermal and chemical stability to withstand the harsh steps of the heparin recovery process is essential. In addition, the importance of having the right functional groups on the surface of the material when designing an adsorbent is highlighted. Herein we describe the use of APTES-functionalized biochar (N-Char) as an efficient and sustainable adsorbent to recover heparin from a porcine intestinal mucosa sample. Results demonstrate that the N-Char can recover as much as 60% (∼31 mg g−1) of heparin from a real sample solution (Porcine intestinal mucosa) under optimized conditions with anticoagulant potency of 59 ± 3 U per gram of mucosa, compared to 51 ± 2 U per gram for the heparin recovered via the commercial resin Amberlite FPA98 Cl. Functionalized biochar demonstrates high stability throughout five recycling adsorption/desorption rounds, indicating excellent re-usability.