本工作為研究一種由苯乙烯和丙烯酸合成的隨機型共聚物P(S-r-AA) 與聚偏二氟乙烯 (PVDF) 通過電紡絲程序製造用於血液過濾的薄膜。首先,需要藉由優化 P(S-r-AA) 共聚物中苯乙烯與丙烯酸的摩爾比,來盡可能提高奈米纖維膜的潤濕性。而當摩爾比為50/400時,改性膜M5的水接觸角為127 ± 1°,相較於未改性膜M0的水接觸角(136 ± 1°)略低,然而,當改性膜在與水溶液長時間接觸後,共聚物則顯著地改善了薄膜的水合作用,溶脹比可由19% (M0)急劇增加到1600% (M5)。在物理和化學分析上,皆發現所有奈米纖維膜都是均勻的,例如:M0和M5的孔徑分別從0.56 µm 增加到1.25 µm,且共聚物在薄膜表面上的分佈也是均勻地。最後,在血液過濾的測試上,我們使用白細胞濃縮物(WBC)、10倍稀釋的全血和全血來進行測試,雖然所有濾液皆無法通過M0,但使用M5來進行測試則可以實現分離。白細胞的保留率在WBC、10 倍稀釋的全血和全血過濾後分別為100%、100% 和 99.99%。此外,在全血過濾的部分亦可以回收79% 的紅血球。儘管仍需要努力進一步提高奈米纖維膜的生物相容性和紅細胞回收率,但本研究結果證明,基於PVDF的奈米纖維膜作為全血分離的介質具有巨大潛力。
This work reports the association of poly(styrene-co-acrylic acid) random copolymer, P(S-r-AA), with poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) in the fabrication of electrospun fibers for blood filtration. At first, effort was put into the determination of the styrene/acrylic acid molar ratio in P(S-r-AA) copolymer that would improve best the wetting of nanofibers. With a 50/400 molar ratio, the water contact angle of the modified membrane (M5) was 127 ± 1°, while it was slightly higher for the unmodified membrane (M0, 136 ± 1°). However, the copolymer significantly improved hydration after prolonged contact of the membrane with an aqueous medium, as the swelling ratio increased dramatically from 19 % (M0) to 1600 % (M5). Nanofibers were all found to be physically and chemically homogeneous, with a pore size increasing from 0.56 µm to 1.25 µm for M0 and M5, respectively, and a regular copolymer distribution on the surface. While no flow could be recorded through M0 with white blood cells (WBCs) concentrate, 10-fold diluted whole blood or whole blood, separation was achievable with M5. 100%, 100% and 99.99% retention of leukocytes was measured with WBCs concentrate, 10-fold diluted whole blood, and pure whole blood using this membrane. Besides, it allowed to recover 79% of red blood cells. Although efforts are still needed to further enhance the biocompatibility of nanofibers and the RBCs recovery, the results of this study prove that PVDF-based nanofibers have a great potential as separation media of whole blood.