BLOOD COMPATIBILITY OF CELLULOSE HEMODIAL YSIS MEMBRANE GRAFTED WITH VARIOUS POLYMERS

Cellulose membrane is widely used for hemodialysis, but, its blood com patibility is not satisfactory. In this communication, the surface mod ification of cellulose membrane grafted with various water-soluble pol ymers and evaluation of surface blood compatibility of the membranes w ere reported. The surface grafting of water-soluble polymer on the cel lulose membrane was carried out in water using various nonionic monome rs such as 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine (MPC), acrylamide, N-vinylpyrorridone, and methacryloyl poly(ethylene glycol). The ceriu m ammonium nitrate was applied as an initiator. Surface of the membran e was analyzed by FT-IR and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and zeta- potential measurements for confirmation of the graft polymerization. T he density of polymer chains was regulated by changing the monomer con centration in feed. The blood compatibility of the modified membrane w as evaluated with attention to the protein adsorption, compliment acti vation, and platelet adhesion. The grafting of the water-soluble polym er is almost effective for improving blood compatibility, but the leve l of the improvement was depended on the chemical structure of the gra fted polymer. Among these grafted polymers, the poly(MPC) showed excel lent performance for modification of the cellulose membrane.