Blood cell separation by novel PET/PVP blend electrospun membranes

Aiming to develop filters to efficiently remove leukocytes from whole blood, we fabricated blended fibrous mats by electrospinning of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET)/poly(vinyl pyrrolidon) (PVP) solutions (15 wt%) at different ratios of PVP in a trifluoroacetic acid (TFA)/dichloromethane (DCM) solvent system. The results showed that incorporation of up to 5 wt% PVP significantly enhanced the viscosity of electrospinning solution and the mechanical strength of electrospun mats. Fibrous membranes showed uniform and smooth fiber morphology with the least diameter distribution recorded for the hydrophilic blend containing 5 wt% PVP. This blend demonstrated the highest platelet permeation (above 90%). Performance of the membranes in retention of white blood cells (WBCs) showed that fiber diameter is the most influential parameter. Finally, effect of multilayered filters on removal/retention of WBCs/(RBCs + platelets) from whole blood was evaluated and showed that removal of WBCs increased significantly with the number of the layers, while RBCs + platelets content remained almost unchanged.