Additively Manufactured 3D Membranes for Wearable Renal Assist Device

More than 400,000+ Americans require renal assist devices in the form of hemodialysis machines. This industry costs more than $50 billion dollars a year. Two limitations of current hemodialysis membranes are that they are prone to biofouling and have low packing density of the membrane resulting in a large device. Developing a wearable device that has improved filtration and efficiency would change the lifestyle of thousands of Americans from relying on hemodialysis centers.<br/><br/>We have developed a formulation for a material that has 3 times better antibiofouling properties than commercial materials while maintaining mechanical robustness. We have used a combination of additive manufacturing (AM) and polymerization induced phase separation (PIPS) to design a 3D membrane with controlled micropore size and two-phase flow. Our membrane has achieved over 10 times higher flow rate compared to commercially available membranes at similar pressure drop. This membrane design enhances filtration capabilities through the membrane wall by creating turbulent flow in the channels. Coupling material formulation and additive manufacturing is a way to develop high packing density membrane for a wearable renal device.<br/> <br/>This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344.