(State Key Laboratory of Separation Membranes and Membrane Processes, School of Material Science and Engineering, Tiangong University, Tianjin 300387, China)
Accumulation of endogenous and exogenous toxins in patients with chronic kidney disease will increase the burden on the kidneys and even lead to uremia. These substances are called uremic toxins. Hemodialysis is a common treatment for end-stage renal disease. This treatment can remove free small molecule uremic toxins in the blood, but it is limited to remove middle molecular toxins and protein-binding compound toxins. Moreover, the blood incompatibility of hemodialysis membrane materials often affects the health of patients, and even cause disease or even death. Therefore, improving the hemocompatibility of hemodialysis membranes and strengthening their elimination performance have become hotspots in this field. In traditional modification methods, the hemocompatibility of hemodialysis membranes can be improved by hydrophilic modification and negative charge on the membrane surface, and the removal of uremia toxin can be enhanced by adding convection or adsorption mechanism on the basis of diffusion. Moreover, several novel hemodialysis membranes have also been developed to improve the biocompatibility and enhance removal of uremic toxins, such as protein bionic membranes, nanochannel directional transport membranes, 3D template multilayer fiber membranes, anticoagulant membranes and selfanticoagulation membranes. This article introduces the research progress of hemodialysis membranes in terms of hemocompatibility and enhanced removal of toxins, which provides references for the modification of hemodialysis membranes.