Preparation and characterization of porous polyethersulfone (PES) membranes with improved biocompatibility by blending sulfonated polyethersulfone (SPES) and cellulose acetate (CA) - A comparative study

The current study focuses on the effective sulfonation of polyethersulfone (PES) polymer to synthesize sulfonated-polyethersulfone (SPES) and blending with PES to prepare SPES/PES blend membranes as well as preparation of cellulose acetate CA/PES blend membranes. FTIR-ATR technique was used to confirm the blending of SPES and CA into PES matrix. Water contact angle studies showed a significant reduction of hydrophobicity in SPES blend membranes (49.55 +/- 1.52 degrees) as compared with CA blend membranes (59.42 +/- 2.20 degrees) and PES base membranes (67.80 +/- 1.48 degrees). The presence of pores were analysed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) where significant changes in the membrane morphology in the blend membranes were observed. Platelet adhesion, protein adsorption and activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) studies were used to assess hemocompatibility of the membranes in which SPES/PES membranes exhibited improved characteristics as compared with its counterparts. The cytocompatibility of membranes were evaluated using water soluble tetrazolium (WST) assay which confirmed that both SPES/PES and CA/PES blend membranes exhibit better cytocompatibility than base PES membrane