Abstracts - peq / coppe / ufrj

Development of Functionalized Poly(etherimide) Membrane for Application inHemodialysisAlana Melo dos Santos * , Alberto Claudio Habert e Helen Conceição FerrazAlberto Luiz Coimbra Institute – Graduate School and Research in Engineering, Federal University ofRio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil, alana@peq.coppe.ufrj.br.According to data from the Brazilian Society of Nephrology, about 10 million people suffer fromkidney disease in Brazil, which can envolve to a chronic stage if not previously detected. In this stage,hemodialysis becomes indispensable until kidney transplantation.Hemodialysis is a treatment that aims the elimination of toxic metabolits and excess of water, actingas an artificial kidney. This is accomplished, generally, by the movement of solutes and solvent(water) across a semipermeable membrane, which allows the passage of metabolic waste productssuch as urea, creatinine, uric acid, and inorganic phosphate to move from bloodstream of patients tothe dialysate , preventing at the same time, the elimination of important blood proteins such asalbumin and immunoglobulin [1]. Despite being the most widely method of treatment used forchronic kidney disease, hemodialysis still requires improvements in its process in order to decreasethe mortality and increase the quality of life of patients.Commercial membranes generally used in hemodialysis consist of polymers such as polysulfone,polyethersulfone, polycarbonate, polyamide or cellulose acetate [2]. These membranes are importedand they represent a high cost to the SUS (Unified Health System), in addition to limiting the numberof patients who can be treated. Thus, the present study aims to synthesize membranes ofpolyetherimide (PEI) for hemodialysis, with chemical immobilization of heparin on its surface in orderto increase their biocompatibility. PEI is a polymer with interesting properties, as considerablemechanical strength, thermal stability, chemical resistance and good processability[3]. Furthermore,it can be covalently functionalized by reaction of macromolecules with the aminated repeating imidegroup [4].The PEI membranes synthesized are characterized by morphological analysis, hydraulic permeabilityand rejection to the following solutes: urea, creatinine, vitamin B12, β2-microglobulin and albumin.Moreover, the efficiency of heparin immobilization on the membrane is evaluated.[1] N. J. Ofsthun; S. Karoor; M. Suzuki (2008), New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, p. 519-537.[2] J. Barzin et al. (2004), J of Membrane Science, 237, p. 77-85.[3] S. Senthilkumar et al (2012), J Polym Res, 19, p. 1-11.[4] W. Chinpa (2010), J of Membrane Science, 365, p. 89-97.