Advancement in separation materials for blood purification therapy

Blood purification refers to the extra corporeal therapies of removing potentially toxic substances, in which blood is circulated through an adsorption system loading separation materials. High-efficient inexpensive separation materials are critical to success. In this review, separation materials such as polymers and nanomaterials are summarized and compared. Combining the advantages of the adsorptive membranes and nanomaterials, organic–inorganic hybrid/blend membranes have been developed explosively. These hybrid/blend membranes have both the characteristics of high permeability, easy fabrication, good biocompatibility of adsorptive membranes, and characteristics of fast adsorption rate and high adsorption capacity of nanomaterials. The preparation and modification methodology of the separation materials is reviewed. For affinity separation materials, the relationship of ligand chemistry, ligand density and pores of the matrix is discussed. This paper also summarizes some interesting applications in separation materials for removal of bilirubin, endotoxin, toxic metal ions, cytokine, etc.