Polyvinyl alcohol plasma deposited nylon 4 membrane for hemodialysis

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Abstract
Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) is a hydrophilic and blood compatible material, but it is easily hydrolyzed in aqueous solution. Various methods, including chemical crosslinking and γ‐ray irradiation, have been investigated by many researchers for overcoming the instability of PVA in aqueous solution. This study suggests a new hemodialysis membrane, which is prepared by plasma depositing vinylacetate (VAc) onto annealled nylon 4 membrane, followed by hydrolysis treatment. This improves the blood compatibility of nylon 4 and overcomes the hydrolysis problem of PVA. In addition to conventional plasma deposition, the plasma initiated interpenetrating network (IPN) method is also investigated. The new hemodialysis membranes prepared by both conventional plasma deposited VAc onto nylon 4 (PPVA/N4) and IPN polymer of plasma initiated VAc onto nylon 4 (PIPVA/N4 IPN) show significant improvement in blood compatibility. However, the solute permeabilities of PIPVA/N4 IPN membranes are higher than those of PPVA/N4 membranes. The permeabilities of NaCl, vitamin B12, and albumin for membranes prepared by IPN at 80 W, 30 sec plasma deposited conditions, i.e., the optimized conditions, are 3.614, 0.070, and 0.000 × 10−5 cm2/min, respectively. The mole ratio of adsorbed fibrinogen to adsorbed albumin (the mole ratio F/A) for this membrane is 0.20, and it also shows excellent blood compatibility in this study. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.