Hollow fiber membranes for long-term hemodialysis based on polyethersulfone-SlipSkin™ polymer blends

O.E.M. ter Beek, D. Pavlenko, D. Stamatialis*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

44 Citations (Scopus)
301 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Hemodialysis (HD) therapy is of vital importance for patients with end stage renal disease (ESRD), when there is no donor organ available for transplantation to replace their malfunctioning kidneys. In contrast to healthy kidneys which work continuously and remove a broad range of toxins, during HD, patients’ blood is cleansed three times a week for 4 h and not all uremic toxins are removed. For achieving long-term and/or continuous therapies, including wearable artificial kidneys, one requires membranes with long-term blood compatibility and high fouling resistance. Most membranes currently used in the clinic are made by blending of hydrophobic polymers, such as polysulfone (PSu) or polyethersulfone (PES), with hydrophilic additives, such as polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP). Studies however, have shown that PVP could leach out from the membranes, especially during prolonged therapy leading to membrane fouling and/or complications to patients. Here, we develop hollow fibers with no additive leaching, by blending PES with small amounts of SlipSkin™ (SS). The latter, a random copolymer consisting of N-vinylpyrrolidone (NVP) and N-butylmethacrylate (BMA), has very good blood compatibility. The developed fibers can achieve high removal of a range of uremic toxins (creatinine and protein-bound uremic toxins) combined with excellent fouling resistance.

Original languageEnglish
Article number118068
JournalJournal of membrane science
Volume604
Early online date15 Mar 2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jun 2020

Keywords

  • UT-Hybrid-D
  • Elution
  • Fouling
  • Hemodialysis
  • Membrane
  • Additives

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