Hydrophilic Modification of Polypropylene Facilitates Advances in Fat Grafting Purification

Autologous fat grafting is widely used for soft-tissue augmentation but remains limited by low graft survival, largely due to inefficient purification. Here, we report a hydrophilic modification of polypropylene (PP) SMS nonwoven membranes that enables efficient fat purification with minimal cellular loss. The modified SMS10 material exhibited a reduced water contact angle (130.23° → 46.20°) and rapid fluid penetration (4.15 s), while maintaining a smooth, multi-porous architecture superior to gauze. Human adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) adhered and proliferated on SMS10 with typical “S”-shaped growth kinetics. Cell viability remained high (85.36% vs. 86.45% control, p  > 0.05) and apoptosis rates were unaffected (3.71% vs. 3.34%). These findings demonstrate that hydrophilic SMS10 membranes combine effective filtration with excellent biocompatibility, offering a promising platform to improve fat graft retention and clinical outcomes.