Inhibiting advanced glycation end products (AGEs) of high-performance hemodialysis membranes self-assembled by gallic acid and Ti3C2Tx MXene

Current patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) suffer from either accumulation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) or inefficient clearance of the middle molecule uremic toxins, threatening their long-term survival rate. In particular, conventional hemodialysis membranes cannot prevent AGEs formation because of continuous oxidative stress from reactive oxygen species (ROS). Herein, a persistent ROS scavenging and efficient uremic toxin clearance of hemodialysis membrane is proposed by the in situ deposition of a gallic acid-Ti3C2Tx MXene (GA-MXene)n multilayers through a self-assembly method, where n denotes the number of deposition layers. These hemodialysis membranes have a highly interconnecting composite laminate with tunable pore size. In the dialysis experiment, the (GA-MXene)2 membrane with the vertical nano-slits shows the highest middle molecule uremic toxin clearance of 80.0% compared with state-of-the-art hemodialysis membranes, which has been approximately equal to the clearance of small molecule urea. Furthermore, GA conferring efficient ROS scavenging rate over dialysis treatment time allows anti-oxidative activities to inhibit AGEs' formation. (GA-MXene)n multilayers enhanced the serum total antioxidant capacity and suppressed lipid peroxidation from oxidative damage. Ultimately, the (GA-MXene)n hemodialysis membranes provide excellent anticoagulant properties and cytocompatibility through the heparin-mimicking sulfonated Ti3C2Tx MXene and biological activity of GA. This work facilitates the blood purification application of MXenes and opens up an avenue for developing functional multilayers for high-performance hemodialysis membranes and beyond.