Abstract
The field of membrane materials is one of the most dynamic due to the continuously changing requirements regarding the selectivity and the upgradation of the materials developed with the constantly changing needs. Two membrane processes are essential at present, not for development, but for everyday life—desalination and hemodialysis. Hemodialysis has preserved life and increased life expectancy over the past 60–70 years for tens of millions of people with chronic kidney dysfunction. In addition to the challenges related to the efficiency and separative properties of the membranes, the biggest challenge remained and still remains the assurance of hemocompatibility—not affecting the blood during its recirculation outside the body for 4 h once every two days. This review presents the latest research carried out in the field of functionalization of polysulfone membranes (the most used polymer in the preparation of membranes for hemodialysis) with the purpose of increasing the hemocompatibility and efficiency of the separation process itself with a decreasing impact on the body.
Highlights
The dialysis used during the procedure can lead in the case of a single dialysis center to the production of approximately 80 tons per year of water with a high content of urea, uric acid and creatinine, which in turn must be purified by concentrating these substances through other membrane processes, the most used at present being forward osmosis [2,3]
Some of the recent approaches in the field of polysulfone functionalized membranes for hemodialysis from the perspective of functionalization reactions at the surface of the membrane that improve hemocompatibility have been presented in this review
With the discovery of polysulfone, its physical and chemical properties established it as the main polymer for obtaining membranes for hemodialysis
Summary
Since the beginning of their existence, humans have been preoccupied with providing for their primary needs such as food and shelter. The main causes that lead to the appearance of chronic kidney dysfunction are diabetes, high blood pressure and pollution Due to this last reason, it is assumed that the number of patients who will need this therapeutic procedure in the future will increase exponentially in the near future. The control of biofouling [37] represents a key point for membrane characteristics For this reason, in relation to the engineering of the hemodialysis process, some reviews has been published that present surface phenomena and interactions and technical solutions to address hydrophilicity and hydrophobicity, repulsion or attraction forces between ions and membrane surface and explanations from a physical chemistry point of view for hydration layers and friction-reduction properties [38–40]. Reactions conditions and the influence of immobilized molecules over performances of separation and hemocompatibility are presented and some future trends in the field of functionalized polysulfone membranes for hemodialysis are discussed at the end of the review
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