Novel Composite Membranes With Ultra-Thin Defect-Free Dense Layer and High Hemocompatibility for ECMO Oxygenator

The membrane oxygenator is very important in extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) systems, which are equivalent to the lung to achieve the gas exchange of O₂ and CO₂ for the blood. The membrane oxygenator should be highly hemocompatible and a good barrier between the gas and blood. Herein, novel composite membranes with ultra-thin defect-free dense layers were constructed successfully on the porous polyacrylic fibre (PAN) substrate by the fluororubber materials for the ECMO system. The O₂ and CO₂ permeance of the defect-free PAN/fluororubber composite membranes was very high (J_O2 = 2054 GPU, J_CO2 = 3491 GPU), which was very beneficial for the exchange of breathing gases and much higher than the commercial PMP membranes (J_O2 = 131 GPU, J_CO2 = 376 GPU). Simultaneously, the PAN/fluororubber composite membranes exhibited good biocompatibility through conducting biocompatibility experiments (protein adsorption evaluation, coagulation tests and platelet adhesion test). Above all, the novel composite membranes are very promising for application in ECMO oxygenators.