ABSTRACT
Polyethersulfone (PES) hollow fibers were fabricated by dry-wet spinning method for hemodialysis application. The effects of additives polyethylene glycols (PEG) in the dope solution and of fiber thickness and inner diameter fiber on the membrane mechanical characters were investigated. The dialysis tests were conducted by using a simulated solution prepared by dissolving bovine serum albumin (BSA), lysozyme and urea in de-ionized water to test the effects of membrane characters and operating conditions on dialysis efficiency. The results indicated that the reduction of PEG concentration from 27.6 wt% to 24.1 wt% in the dope solution improved the clearance of toxins, but slightly decreased the mechanical characters. The reduction of fiber thickness or fiber inner diameter was found to improve the clearance of toxins by removing 64.2% of lysozyme and 89.4% of urea (membrane area 0.2 m2), whilst BSA retention was found being maintained above 98%. The dialysis efficiency was also noted to increase with the increase in the flow rate of either the simulated or the dialysate solution, or increasing the membrane area. Moreover, The result of a comparison on the clearance of toxins between commercial F60S and PES dialyzers indicated higher dialysis efficiency per area of the fabricated PES membrane.