Polyethersulfone-carbon nanotubes composite hollow fiber membranes with improved biocompatibility for bioartificial liver

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) blended hollow fiber membranes (HFMs) are a promising new material in the area of biomedical engineering because they simultaneously provide tunable hydrophilicity along with selective permeability. In the present study, composite polyethersulfone (P) HFMs were fabricated using d-α-tocopheryl polyethylene glycol 1000 succinate (TPGS or T) as compatibilizer, and carboxylated multiwalled CNTs (MWCNTs or C) as filler. The amount of MWCNTs was optimized for the improved hemocompatibility, cell viability, and cellular functionality. An optimum was found with the composte HFMs (PTC-2), where MWCNTs were used at concentration of 0.030 wt.%, as it exhibited improved compatibility with human blood. Further, these PTC-2 HFMs showed enhanced liver (HepG2) cells growth with the enhanced cell functional activities, mainly albumin secretion and glucose consumption. These developed composite membrane can act as a membrane material for liver cell bioreactor and bioartificial liver development because of their 3D scaffold like characteristic which enables cell growth, and selective permeability which helps in immunoisolation.