Blood-based and sugar-based enzymes, shown as the larger background molecules, are attached to graphene (white mesh) to provide ingredients for a chemical reaction that produces anti-clotting agents called nitroxyls, which appear as the smaller foreground molecules in this illustration.
Blood clotting is helpful to seal up a scrape. But platelet buildup can be dangerous during certain medical procedures such as dialysis. Now, a new graphene-based material could keep blood flowing.
The material — made of blood-based and sugar-based enzymes attached to graphene, a single-atom-thick sheet of carbon — can produce hydrogen peroxide from blood sugar. The hydrogen peroxide then gets converted into small anticlotting molecules called nitroxyls. When researchers coated a plastic film with the new material, clotting was greatly reduced, and the effect persisted even after three days.
Coating blood-contacting devices with the new material may prevent clotting in medical procedures, researchers report February 11 in Nature Communications.
