As a pathogenic toxin, bilirubin is generally removed from blood by hemoperfusion for the remission of liver disease or to gain time for patients waiting for liver transplantation. However, the development of bilirubin adsorbents with excellent mechanical properties, adsorption performance and hemocompatibility is still a considerable challenge. In this work, a heparin-modified chitosan/graphene oxide hybrid hydrogel (hep-CS/GH) has been developed for bilirubin adsorption using a lyophilization–neutralization–modification strategy. The as-prepared hybrid hydrogel displayed a unique foam-like porous structure and excellent mechanical flexibility. It was revealed that the incorporation of graphene oxide into the chitosan matrix enhanced both the compressive strength and the Young's modulus of the hybrid hydrogel, as well as its adsorption capacity for bilirubin. The maximum adsorption capacity of hep-CS/GH for bilirubin was 92.59 mg g⁻¹, according to the Langmuir isotherm model. It was demonstrated that hep-CS/GH successfully competed with albumin, and could effectively adsorb bilirubin from a bilirubin-enriched serum. After the hydrogel was modified with heparin, protein adsorption, platelet adhesion and hemolysis were reduced, and the plasma clotting time was prolonged from 4.1 to 23.6 min, indicating the superior hemocompatibility of hep-CS/GH. Therefore, this study may pave the way for improving the performance of the adsorbent in removing blood toxins.

Tannic acid (TA), a high-molecular-weight polyphenol, is used as a hemostasis spray and unguent for trauma wound remedy in traditional medical treatment. However, the use of tannic acid on a large-area wound would lead to absorption poisoning. In this work, a TA coating was assembled on a quartz/silicon slide, or medical gauze, via chelation interaction between TA and Fe³⁺ ions and for further use as a hemostasis dressing. Protein adsorption on the TA coating was further investigated by fluorescence signal, ellipsometry analysis and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). The adsorbed bovine serum albumin (BSA), immunoglobulin G (IgG) and fibrinogen (Fgn) on the TA coating was in the manner of monolayer saturation adsorption, and fibrinogen showed the largest adsorption. Furthermore, we found the slight hemolysis of the TA coating caused by the lysed red blood cells and adsorption of protein, especially the clotting-related fibrinogen, resulted in excellent hemostasis performance of the TA coating in the blood clotting of an animal wound. Thus, this economic, environmentally friendly, flexible TA coating has potential in medical applications as a means of preparing novel hemostasis materials.

Polymers are promising materials for fabricating photonic integrated waveguide devices. Versatile functional devices can be manufactured using a simple process, with low cost and potential mass-manufacturing. This paper reviews the recent progress of polymer photonic integrated devices fabricated using the UV imprinting technique. The passive polymer waveguide devices for wavelength filtering, power splitting, and light collecting, and the active polymer waveguide devices based on the thermal-optic tuning effect, are introduced. Then, the electro-optic (EO) modulators, by virtue of the high EO coefficient of polymers, are described. Finally, the photonic biosensors, which are based on low-cost and biocompatible polymer platforms, are presented.