Abstract
Aqueous two-phase system (ATPS) has the benefits of being environmental-friendly, providing a mild environment for bioseparation, ability to handle high capacity and can be easily scaled up. Among all ATPS techniques, thermoseparating ATPS outshine the others due to its distinctive thermoseparating properties and easy-recyclability and has increasingly capture attractions from industries and researches for its application on isolation and recovery of biomaterials. This review starts with a brief introduction of ATPS, including its history, range of applications, unique characteristics, partitioning-influencing factors, and lastly, the different types of ATPS together with their descriptions and general applications. This followed by a summary of recent applications is listed, focusing on thermoseparation-based ATPS. Thermoseparating ATPS is concluded to have huge potential as a cost-effective and environmental- friendly industrial-scale bioseparation and recovery technique.
