To remove
bilirubin from human plasma,
amine/methyl bifunctionalized
SBA-15 materials were directly synthesized from the co-condensation of 3-aminopropylmethyldiethoxysilane and
tetraethoxysilane with an amphiphilic block copolymer P123 as template. XRD, N(2) sorption analysis, FTIR and (29)Si MAS NMR were used to identify their well-ordered mesostructure and the grafting of
amine and methyl groups on the surface of as-synthesized materials. Both SEM and TEM indicated that the bifunctionalized
SBA-15 possessed platelet morphology. This might be attributed to the charge repulsion brought by protonated
amine groups and the diminution of
hydroxyl groups on the end of
silicate-
micelles, which passivated the end-to-end anchoring of
silicate-
micelles along the longitudinal axis. Such a material was investigated as the adsorbent for selective
bilirubin removal from human plasma, which showed a high
bilirubin clearance of 51.4% within 1.5 h with a little amount of
albumin adsorption. The results of
hemolysis assay suggested that the bifunctionalized
SBA-15 caused serious
hemolysis of red blood cells. However, in practical application, plasma separation technique could avoid direct contact between the adsorbent and red blood cells. The further hemeolysis assay proved that the plasma after contacting with the bifunctionalized
SBA-15 could not lead to the
hemolysis of red blood cells. Thus, the bifunctionalized
SBA-15 is expected to be a potential candidate as a clinical
hemoperfusion material.