Polyarylether membranes
View Patent ↗Membranes for use in methods and apparatuses for hemodialysis and hemofiltration are composed of at least one polyarylethernitrile block copolymer having structural units of formula I wherein Z is a direct bond, O, S, CH 2 , SO, SO 2 , CO, RPO, CH 2 , alkenyl, alkynyl, a C 1 -C 12 aliphatic radical, a C 3 -C 12 cycloaliphatic radical, a C 3 -C 12 aromatic radical or a combination thereof; R is a C 6-12 aromatic radical or a C 1-12 aliphatic radical; R 1 and R 2 are independently H, halo, nitro, a C 1 -C 12 aliphatic radical, a C 3 -C 12 cycloaliphatic radical, a C 3 -C 12 aromatic radical, or a combination thereof; a is 0, 1, 2 or 3; b is 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4; and m and n are independently 0 or 1.
1. A method for hemodialysis and hemofiltration, said method comprising contacting blood with a membrane having a pore size between about 0.5 and 100 nm comprising a polyarylethernitrile block copolymer having a contact angle with water of less than about 50° measured on a surface of the copolymer cast as a film on a glass substrate comprising at least one polyarylethernitrile block having structural units of formula I
wherein
Z is a direct bond, O, S, SO, SO 2 , CO, RPO, alkenyl, alkynyl, a C 1 -C 12 aliphatic radical, a C 3 -C 12 cycloaliphatic radical, a C 3 -C 12 aromatic radical or a combination thereof;
R is a C 6-12 aromatic radical or a C 1-12 aliphatic radical;
R 1 and R 2 are independently H, halo, nitro, a C 1 -C 12 aliphatic radical, a C 3 -C 12 cycloaliphatic radical, a C 3 -C 12 aromatic radical, or a combination thereof;
a is 0, 1, 2 or 3;
b is 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4; and
m and n are independently 0 or 1.
2. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the polyarylethernitrile block copolymer additionally comprises least one block having structural units of formula II
wherein
R 3 , R 4 and R 5 are independently H, halo, nitro, a C 1 -C 12 aliphatic radical, a C 3 -C 12 cycloaliphatic radical, a C 3 -C 12 aromatic radical or a combination thereof;
Q is a direct bond, O, S, CH 2 , alkenyl, alkynyl, a C 1 -C 12 aliphatic radical, a C 3 -C 12 cycloaliphatic radical, a C 3 -C 12 aromatic radical or a combination thereof;
Z 1 is a direct bond, O, S, SO, SO 2 , CO, RPO, alkenyl, alkynyl, a C 1 -C 12 aliphatic radical, a C 3 -C 12 cycloaliphatic radical, a C 3 -C 12 aromatic radical or a combination thereof;
c, d and e are independently 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4; and
p, q and r are independently 0 or 1.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the membrane has a pore size of between about 4 and 25 nm.
4. The method of claim 3 wherein the membrane has a pore size of between about 4 and 15 nm.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein said block copolymer has a benzonitrile content of between about 20 and 50 mol %.
6. The method of claim 5 wherein the remaining between about 50 and 80 mol % of said block copolymer is made up of Bisphenol-A and Bisphenol-S residues.