Suitable membranes for blood‐contacting medical applications need to be resistant in confrontation with blood proteins and cells, while possessing high blood compatibility and permeability at the same time. Herein, an overview of the recent advances and strategies that have been used to enhance the hemocompatibility of polymeric membranes is provided. The review focuses on two modification strategies: (i) physical modifications and (ii) chemical modifications. It also highlights the current progress in the design of hemocompatible‐functionalized membranes for biomedical applications. Subsequently, the commonly applied biocompatibility tests are also discussed and finally the future perspectives of the application of polymeric membranes in the biomedical field are presented.

Photoadhesives have been beneficial for a plethora of applications due to advantages in spatiotemporal control, flexible operating temperature, and in situ applicability. As a sustainable approach, bio-based precursors have been applied for the production of photoadhesives. However, the use of toxic chemicals and incorporation of petroleum-based chemicals in the synthesis process is inevitable. In this study, a photocurable itaconic acid-based polyester, poly(1,3-propanediol-co-citrate-co-itaconate-co-1,12-dodecanedioate) (IAP), was developed from bio-based precursors through a facile, catalyst-free, and solvent-free polycondensation process without use of toxic chemicals. Ultraviolet (UV)-triggered photocross-linking in the presence of a photoinitiator was found to induce adhesion capability in IAP. With 30 min of UV exposure, IAP presented an adhesion strength of 1286.0 ± 19.2 kPa against acrylic substrates. Remarkable adhesion strengths to stainless steel, wood, glass, and polytetrafluoroethylene substrates were also achieved. Due to photo-induced reduction in hydrophilicity of IAP, the polymer was able to repel water at the adhesive−substrate interface upon in situ underwater photocuring, leading to successful wet adhesion. Subsequently, excellent photo-adhesion was also obtained from in situ photocuring of IAP in seawater, simulated body fluid, and silicon oil. This study provides insights into the development of a photo-enhanced and versatile adhesive through green engineering.

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Asymmetric, porous ultrafiltration polysulfone (PSf) hollow fiber membranes were fabricated via the dry-wet phase inversion spinning technique specifically for haemodialysis membrane. The objective was to discover the suitable spinning condition for the fabrication of ultrafiltration hollow fiber membrane with desired sponge-like structure. During haemodialysis procedure, uremic toxins such as urea and creatinine range from size 10,000-55,000 Da needs to be excreted out from the blood. While, proteins such as albumin (66,000 Da) need to be retained. The physical structure or morphology of a fabricated membrane is a major concern in determining the efficiency of a dialysis membrane. Different type of membrane morphology will give a different result in term of its permeability and clearance efficiency. The phase inversion spinning technique is suitable in producing ultrafiltation (UF) membrane where the average pore size of the fabricated membrane is in the range of 0.001 – 0.1 µm. However, there is many factors need to be controlled and manipulated in the phase inversion technique. In this study, the effect of the PVP on membrane pore size and performances were analysed. The contact angle measurement was measured to determine the hydrophilicity of the fibers. The hydrophilic polymer is favorable to avoid fouling and increase its biocompatibility. Furthermore, the diameter of the hollow fibers was determined using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The effects of different morphology of the hollow fibers on the performance of the membranes were evaluated by pure water flux and BSA rejection. Both techniques were tested using permeation flux system. Based on the results obtained, it is found that the finger-like macrovoids in PSf hollow fiber membranes were suppressed by adding 8% PVP (Mw of 360 kDa) into the spinning dope solution as the result of a drastic increase in dope viscosity. On top of that, fiber spun with 8% PVP show more porous structure which contribute to higher permeability of the membrane. The result of this study can benefit to the membrane field of research especially in membrane technology for haemodialysis application.

In this study, pure TiO 2 , ZrO 2 , and hybrid ZrO 2 -TiO 2 photocatalysts were synthesized through solgel process and calcined at three different temperatures. The synthesized photocatalysts were characterized using powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), Brunauer-Emmet-Teller (BET), ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectrometer, and photoluminescence (PL) spectrometer. The PXRD patterns show that the rutile phase of TiO 2 was suppressed through co-doping with ZrO 2 and produced small crystallite size. The hybrid photocatalysts with small crystallite size recorded the highest surface area of 114.7 m 2 /g compared to pure TiO 2 and ZrO 2 photocatalysts as confirmed by BET analysis. Irregular size and shape was observed in the hybrid photocatalysts compared to spherical shape and size in TiO 2 and flaky shape in ZrO 2 as shown by the FESEM images. The optical properties of the photocatalysts investigated using UV-Vis spectroscopy showed a decrease in band gap energy of pure TiO 2 through linear extrapolation from the Tauc's plot despite the slightly higher band gap energy of the hybrid photocatalysts. However, PL analysis showed that doping of ZrO 2 into TiO 2 increased the separation efficiency of the electron-hole pairs and enhanced the photocatalytic activity. The phenol degradation of the hybrid ZrO 2 -TiO 2 photocatalysts was higher compared to those of the pure TiO 2 and ZrO 2 . Keywords Solgel • Hybrid TiO 2 -ZrO 2 photocatalysts • Phenol degradation

PSf flat sheet membrane was prepared via phase inversion technique with N-methyl-2-pyrroidone (NMP) as solvent. In this study polyethylene glycol (PEG) and polyvinylpyrollidone (PVP) were compared as additives at different composition (0.5 wt%, 1 wt%, 3 wt% and 5 wt%). The structure and morphology of the resulting membranes were observed by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and the membranes permeation were evaluated in terms of pure water flux (PWF) and solute rejection. Solution of bovine serum albumin (BSA) was used to study the performance of prepared membrane. The addition of the additives into the casting solution changed the structure of the resultant membranes, which was believed to be associated with the change the permeated of water. The results demonstrated that at the same additive content, PSf/PVP membranes had higher PWF at 0.5 wt% and and 5 wt% of additive while PSf/PEG at 1 wt% and 3 wt% of additive. The BSA rejection show no significant changes for PSf/PEG while PSf/PVP, BSA rejection decrease with increase the increasing the PVP. For PEG, additive from 0% to 5%, the PWF increased from 14.73 at to 101.85 LMH. While for PVP, the PWF increased from 21.13 to 177.61 LMH. The membrane morphology showed that all images showed the membranes were having asymmetric structure consisting of a dense top layer, a porous sublayer, and a small portion of sponge-like bottom layer. The top layer of the membrane consist of finger-like structure while at bottom layer  has macrovoid structure. With increasing the additive, the finger-like structure become longer to the bottom  and macrovoid become smaller. The study found that PEG gives the optimum performance based on the result of rejection and flux permeation.

The major challenges in forward osmosis (FO) are low water flux, high specific reverse solute flux (SRSF), and membrane fouling. The present work addresses these problems by the incorporation of graphene quantum dots (GQDs) in the polyamide (PA) layer of thin-film composite (TFC) membranes, as well as by using an innovative polyethersulfone nanofiber support for the TFC membrane. The GQDs were prepared from eucalyptus leaves using a facile hydrothermal method that requires only deionized water, without the need for any organic solvents or reducing agents. The nanofiber support of the TFC membranes was prepared using solution blow spinning (SBS). The polyamide layer with GQDs was deposited on top of the nanofiber support through interfacial polymerization. This is the first study that reports the fouling resistance of the SBS-nanofiber-supported TFC membranes. The effect of various GQD loadings on the TFC FO membrane performance, its long-term FO testing, cleaning efficiency, and organic fouling resistance were analyzed. It was noted that the FO separation performance of the TFC membranes was improved with the incorporation of 0.05 wt.% GQDs. This study confirmed that the newly developed thin-film nanocomposite membranes demonstrated increased water flux and salt rejection, reduced SRSF, and good antifouling performance in the FO process.