Chitosan Based Fibrous Absorbents for Indoxyl Sulfate Sorption

Abstract Standard dialyzer membranes, designed for diffusive clearance, do not effectively clear protein-bound uremic toxins, such as indoxyl sulfate (IS). To increase protein-bound toxins removal, absorbents require a high specific surface area to achieve effective size-coupling removal of target toxins. However, the toxicity of a molecule is not necessarily determined by size alone. As proof of concept, we report on an electrospun polycaprolactone/chitosan (PCL/CS) fibrous absorbent for IS removal based on chemical structural interaction. A single unit (20mm in length) of our PCL/CS absorbent achieved a 28% clearance of IS within an hour at both 40mg/L and 5mg/L concentrations in a single pass model . This fibrous absorbent structure offers new thoughts on absorbent design.