Iron oxide nanoparticles improved biocompatibility and removal of middle molecule uremic toxin of polysulfone hollow fiber membranes

Abstract

Middle molecule uremic toxins constitute to a quarter of uremic toxins present in human blood. In a condition where these uremic toxins accumulate in bloodstream due to renal failure, blood purification process using a high performance membrane is required. Here, we develop biocompatible mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) made up of polysulfone (PSf) and iron oxide nanoparticles (Fe2O3 NPs) with the focus to remove middle molecule uremic toxin effectively. The MMMs were evaluated in terms of their biocompatibility and separation performance. At higher Fe2O3 NPs loading, the MMM displayed a huge reduction of protein adsorption and platelet adhesion while maintaining normal blood coagulation time and acceptable complement activation. The optimized MMM exhibited high permeability (110.47 L m−2 h−1 bar−1), protein retention (99.9%) and demonstrated excellent clearance of urea (82%) and lysozyme (46.7%). The PSf/Fe2O3 MMM is proven to have promising attributes for hemodialysis application.