Porous cellulose acetate mixed-matrix membrane adsorbents for efficient clearance of p-cresol and creatinine from synthetic serum

Combining hemodialysis treatment with hemoperfusion (HP) can lower the cardiovascular-related mortality rate of patients with kidney failure. In this study, we have developed porous cellulose acetate mixed-matrix membranes (MMMs) with a series of adsorbents—activated carbon (AC), zeolite (ZO), and graphene oxide (GO)—and explored the possibility of using them as the HP treatment units for the removal of uremic toxins. We used a non-solvent induced phase separation method to prepare adsorbent-incorporated MMMs and then characterized them based on their pore structures and physicochemical properties. Batch adsorption experiments of the prepared MMMs for p-cresol (PC) and creatinine (CRT) were conducted to reveal their adsorption capacities, kinetics, and mechanisms within 24 h. The highest adsorption capacity per gram of AC-incorporated MMMs for PC and CRT at 37 °C (calculated by the Langmuir model) was 103.0 and 137.0 mg, respectively. The closed-loop dynamic tests were used to evaluate the clearance efficiency of PC and CRT from their binary solutions at 37 °C. The result demonstrated that the preferential ability of the AC-incorporated membrane to adsorb 73.8% of PC (initially 50 mg/L) and only 6.7% of CRT (initially 150 mg/L) within 4 h. Time-course measurements of the cellular viability of fibroblast NIH/3T3 and leukemic THP1 cells and the hemolysis tests in the presence of the prepared MMMs suggested that these biocompatible MMMs were promising and potential materials for HP treatment.