Bioinspired Microfluidic Device by Integrating a Porous Membrane and Heterostructured Nanoporous Particles for Biomolecule Cleaning

Abstract

Mimicking the structures and functions of biological systems is considered as a promising approach to construct artificial materials, which have great potential in energy, the environment, and health. Here, we demonstrate a conceptually distinct design by synergistically combining a kidney-inspired porous membrane and natural sponge-inspired heterostructured nanoporous particles to fabricate a bioinspired biomolecule cleaning device, achieving highly efficient biomolecule cleaning spanning from small molecules to macromolecules. The bioinspired biomolecule cleaning device is a two-layer microfluidic device that integrates a polyamide porous membrane and heterostructured nanoporous poly(acrylic acid)−poly(styrene divinylbenzene) particles. The former as a filtration membrane isolates the upper sample liquid and the latter fixed onto the bottom of the underlying channel acts as an active sorbent, particularly enhancing the clearance of macromolecules. As a proof-of-concept, we demonstrate that typical molecules, including urea, creatinine, lysozyme, and β2-microglobulin, can be efficiently cleaned from simulant liquid and even whole blood. This study provides a method to fabricate a bioinspired biomolecule cleaning device for highly efficient biomolecule cleaning. We believe that our bioinspired synergistic design may expand to other fields for the fabrication of integrated functional devices, creating opportunities in a wide variety of applications.

Recent Progress of Microfluidic Devices for Hemodialysis

“…Both endothelial cells and podocytes are covered with a glycocalyx and located on both sides of the GBM. Reproduced with permission . Copyright 2019, American Chemical Society.…”

“…Recently, Copic and co‐workers developed a porous carbon nanotube microspheres packed microfluidic column filters, which exhibited significant capacity for the adsorption and filtration of sodium dodecyl sulfate and Congo Red dye . In the aspect of microfluidic hemodialysis, more recently, Fan and co‐workers demonstrated a membrane/particle integrated hemodialysis microfluidic device that combined two distinct materials (nanoporous filtration membrane and nanoporous adsorption particles), realizing a biomolecule cleaning range from small molecules to macromolecules, with high cleaning efficiency ( Figure a–e). In the microfluidic device, amphiphilic poly(acrylic acid)‐poly(styrene‐divinyl benzene) PAA‐PSDVB nanoporous adsorption particles were fixed into the dialyzate channels (Figure c), which could particularly enhance the cleaning efficiency of macromolecules.…”

“…f–h) The cleaning efficiency of various molecules (urea, creatinine, and lysozyme). Reproduced with permission . Copyright 2019, American Chemical Society.…”

“…In order to improve the cleaning efficiency, an integrated system based on membrane filtration hemodialysis and particle adsorption hemoperfusion has been developed and widely used in the practical clinical applications. While, the integrated system based on filtration and adsorption is also developed in microfluidic device for protein digestion and identification, chiral separation and hemodialysis . For example, Lion and co‐workers developed a microfluidic device that integrates the filtration and adsorption of membrane for the effective protein digestion.…”

Omniphobic ZIF‐8@Hydrogel Membrane by Microfluidic‐Emulsion‐Templating Method for Wound Healing

“…Recent developments in bioinspired surfaces with superwettability opened new opportunities for wound dressings 14–19. By articulating the reentrant architecture of the surface, hydrophobic, even omniphobic, surfaces can be achieved using hydrophilic polymers 20–23.…”