Effects of salt- and oxygen-coupled stimuli on the reactive behaviors of hemoglobin-loaded polymeric membranes

A high-performance polymeric membrane is usually associated with excellent electrochemical and mechanical behaviors. Thereby, this paper examines the effects of salt- and oxygen-coupled stimuli on reactive behaviors of hemoglobin-loaded polymeric membranes with varying initial fixed charge densities. For capturing the coupled chemo-electro-mechanical responses of the membrane, a multiphysics model is mathematically formulated and then experimentally validated. The numerical finding unveils that the Donnan potential strength of polyacidic membrane decreases with increase of ambient oxygen level, whereas the Donnan potential of present polyampholytic membrane, at neutral pH conditions, is almost invariant towards changes of environmental salt concentration. When the environmental salt concentration is smaller than the initial fixed charge concentration of the membrane, the surface conductivity of the system is enhanced bi-linearly with increase of the salt concentration due to weakened Donnan potential strength acting over the polymer-solution, while the ion transport in the system is dominantly diffusion-governed if environmental salt concentration is greater than the initial fixed charge concentration of the membrane. Ultimately, these findings can be employed to systematically design and optimize the dual salt-oxygen reactive hemoglobin-loaded polymeric membrane.