Graphene oxide and sulfonated polyanion co-doped hydrogel films for dual-layered membranes with superior hemocompatibility and antibacterial activity

In this study, a new kind of hemocompatible and antibacterial dual-layered polymeric membrane was fabricated by coating a top layer of graphene oxide and a sulfonated polyanion co-doped hydrogel thin film (GO-SPHF) on a bottom membrane substrate. After a two-step spin-coating of casting solutions on glass plates, dual-layered membranes were obtained by a liquid-liquid phase inversion method. The GO-SPHF composite polyethersulfone (PES) membranes (PES/GO-SPHF) showed top layers with obviously large porous structures. The chemical composition tests indicated that there were abundant hydrophilic groups enriched on the membrane surface. The examination of membrane mechanical properties indicated that the composite membranes exhibited only slightly decreased performance compared to pristine PES membranes. Moreover, to validate the potential applications of this novel dual-layered membrane in diverse fields, we tested the hemocompatibility and antibacterial activity of the membranes, respectively. Notably, the PES/GO-SPHF membranes showed highly improved in vitro hemocompatibility, such as good anti-coagulant activity, suppressed platelet adhesion and activation, low inflammation potential, and good red blood cell compatibility. Furthermore, the dual-layered membranes exhibited robust antibacterial ability after in situ loading of Ag-nanoparticles with excellent bactericidal capability to both Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus). Due to the integration of the porous membrane structure, good mechanical strength, excellent hemocompatibility, as well as robust bactericidal capability, the GO and sulfonated polyanion co-doped dual-layered membranes may open up a new protocol to greatly demonstrate the potential application of polymeric membranes for clinical hemodialysis and many other biomedical therapies.