Alginate based biopolymer with improved physical and chemical properties after esterification using polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) has been studied for possible application as a hemodialysis membrane. The alginic acid to vinyl alcohol molar ratio was predetermined at 0, 0.1, 0.5 and 1. Mechanical strength, hydrophilicity and Ca(2+) adsorption of the membrane before and after modification were evaluated. The obtained PVA-alginate (PVA-Alg) ester membrane was also confirmed using FTIR and SEM. It shows that the PVA-Alg membrane tensile strength is higher than that of native alginate. The water contact angle of the membrane was found to be around 33-50°. The Ca(2+) adsorption capacity tends to decrease with the increase in molar ratio. Furthermore, the modified PVA-Alg ester membrane achieves better protein adsorption and platelet adhesion than the unmodified one. It also exhibits a dialysis performance of 47.1-50.0% for clearance of urea and 42.2-44.6% for clearance of creatinine, respectively. It is expected that this PVA-Alg ester may challenge cellulose acetate for potential application as hemodialysis membranes.
Keywords: Hemodialysis membrane; In vitro hemocompatibility; PVA-alginate ester.
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