MWCNTs Composites-Based on New Chemically Modified Polysulfone Matrix for Biomedical Applications

Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) is a non-toxic biosynthetic polymer. Due to the hydrophilic properties of the PVA, its utilization is an easy tool to modify the properties of materials inducing increased hydrophilicity, which can be noticed in the surface properties of the materials, such as wettability. Based on this motivation, we proposed to obtain high-performance composite materials by a facile synthetic method that involves the cross-linking process of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) with and aldehyde-functionalized polysulfone(mPSF) precursor, prior to incorporation of modified MWCNTs with hydrophilic groups, thus ensuring a high compatibility between the polymeric and the filler components. Materials prepared in this way have been compared with those based on polyvinyl alcohol and same fillers (mMWCNTs) in order to establish the influence of the polymeric matrix on the composites properties. The amount of mMWCNTs varied in both polymeric matrices between 0.5 and 5 wt%. Fourier transformed infrared with attenuated total reflectance spectroscopy (FTIR-ATR) was employed to confirm the changes noted in the PVA, mPSF and their composites. Hemolysis degree was investigated in correlation with the material structural features. Homogenous distribution of mMWCNTs in all the composite materials has been confirmed by scanning electron microscopy. The hydrophilicity of both composite systems, estimated by the contact angle method, was influenced by the presence of the filler amount mMWCNTs in both matrices (PVA and mPSF). Our work demonstrates that mPSF/mMWCNTs and PVA/mMWCNTs composite could be used as water purification or blood-filtration materials.

Automated summary

Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) is a non-toxic biosynthetic polymer with hydrophilic properties. In this study, high-performance composite materials were obtained by cross-linking PVA with aldehyde-functionalized polysulfone (mPSF) precursor and incorporating modified multi-walled carbon nanotubes (mMWCNTs) with hydrophilic groups. The properties of the composites were compared with those based on PVA and the same fillers, and it was found that the polymeric matrix has an influence on the composite properties. The composites prepared in this way have potential applications in water purification or blood-filtration materials.