Structure design and performance study on anticoagulant-separation dual functional PVC plasma separation membrane

It is necessary to inject anticoagulant continuously during plasma exchange therapy due to the poor anticoagulant performance of the plasma separation membrane. However, it can easily lead to a risk of bleeding or thrombosis. Herein, a novel anticoagulation-separation dual functional polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plasma separation membrane structure is proposed. The small molecular itaconic acid was grafted onto the PVC plasma separation membrane, which can bind Ca2+ in blood to extend coagulation time. When blood flows through the membrane, the blood coagulation time will be prolonged. Meanwhile, plasma containing toxins can be filtrated from the inside of the membrane to the outside. Toxins are removed from human blood effectively. The results proved that itaconic acid was grafted on the PVC plasma separation membrane without reducing membrane pores, membrane sieving coefficient, membrane flux, and membrane tensile strength, successfully. The maximum pores of the adopted anticoagulant-separation dual function PVC plasma separation membrane were 0.30 µm. The bovine serum albumin sieving coefficient reached 95 %. The flux exceeded 300 L·m−2·h−1. The tensile strength was above 4 MPa. Meanwhile, it exhibited excellent hemocompatibility by suppressed bovine serum albumin adsorption, platelets adsorption, erythrocytes adsorption, hemolysis, and strengthened anticoagulant activity. Thus, the anticoagulation-separation dual functional PVC plasma separation membrane designed in this work may have a great clinical application prospect.