Preparation of Nitrogen-Doped Mesoporous Carbon for the Efficient Removal of Bilirubin in Hemoperfusion

The development of bilirubin adsorbent with high selectivity, brilliant adsorption ability, and biocompatibility is still a considerable challenge. In this study, a copolymer-templated nitrogen-doped mesoporous carbon (CTNC) has been prepared via a simple carbonization procedure of well-defined polyacrylonitrile-block-poly(n-butyl acrylate) (PAN-b-PBA) block copolymer precursors. The structure and morphology were characterized by transmission electron microsphere (TEM), adsorption-desorption isotherms, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Owing to its high specific area, hierarchical open porous structure, and the introduction of nitrogen atoms in graphitic sp 2 network, the adsorbent CTNC exhibited high removal efficiency toward bilirubin and bile acid from human plasma. The removal rate of bilirubin was more than 50.7% with a minimal loss of albumin. Meanwhile, exceeding 95% of bile acid was eliminated. The effect of albumin on the adsorption kinetic of bilirubin was identified. The result indicated that the adsorption rate of BSA-bonded bilirubin experienced a decline than that of free bilirubin, but the adsorption capacity was still up to 39.8 mg/g within 2 h. Moreover, the effect of porosity and nitrogen contents on bilirubin adsorption ability and blood compatibility were systematically investigated. The material with lower nitrogen content showed only a negligible hemolysis activity. Therefore, the nitrogen-doped mesoporous carbon developed in this work has potential application in blood purification for the efficient removal of bilirubin.