A synthetic hemoglobin—based blood substitute would be invaluable in situations where donated blood supplies run low.
In early substitutes, the hemoglobin molecule was genetically modified to improve its affinity for oxygen.
Modified hemoglobin is dried with sodium chloride (1.0 wt%) and potassium phosphate (1.0 wt%).
The dried hemoglobin solution is combined with a solid salt mixture containing sodium bicarbonate (50.0 wt%), sodium chloride (20.0 wt%), and potassium phosphate.
Each “blood bag” contains 2.0 X 100 g total, which includes the dried modified hemoglobin mixture and the dried salt mixture.
When the blood substitute is needed, water is added to dried mixture. To reconstitute, 8.0 X 100 g of water is added to each bag.
ln the reconstituted solution (containing water, hemoglobin, and salts), the modified hemoglobin must be at least 19 wt%. (a) Write a conservation equation for each of the four chemical constituents (modified hemoglobin, sodium chloride, potassium phosphate, sodium bicarbonate) that are mixed as a dried powder. (b) Determine the wt% of each of the four constituents in the dried mixture. (c) Determine the wt% of each of the five constituents after reconstitution with water. (d) There are occasionally supply problems with the dried salt mixture. In the event that you run out of the salt mixture, how much extra water do you need to add to maintain modified hemoglobin at 19 wt% in the reconstituted solution?
