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Performance study of gas separation membrane materials
 for ECMO oxygenators
Authors： SANG Chenyu1,2， SHENG Lujie2， ZHANG Wenbo3， SUN Jian2，CHEN Zengsheng3， MA Hongchao1， LI Hui2， REN Jizhong2
Units： 1. School of Light Industry and Chemical Engineering, Dalian Polytechnic University, Dalian 116034, China;
 2. Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, China;
 3. Key Laboratory of Biomechanics and Mechanobiology (Beihang University), Ministry of Education;
 Key Laboratory of Innovation and Transformation of Advanced Medical Devices, 
Ministry of Industry and Information Technology; National Medical Innovation Platform for 
Industry-Education Integration in Advanced Medical Devices (Interdiscipline of Medicine and Engineering); 
School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China
KeyWords： ECMO; membrane oxygenator; gas separation membrane; fluororubber membrane; blood compatibility
ClassificationCode：TQ028.8
year,volume(issue):pagination： 2026, 46(3):138-148

Abstract：

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), as a critical life support technology, its oxygenation performance relies heavily on the comprehensive properties of the membrane materials. Here, the performance (such as thermal stability, surface wettability, mechanical strength, blood compatibility and gas permeability) of various commercial gas separation membrane materials was evaluated, including polyacrylonitrile (PAN), polyetherimide (PEI), polysulfone (PSU), poly-4-methyl-1-pentene (PMP) and fluororubber (T8). Results indicated that all five commercial membrane materials exhibited good blood compatibility, but their gas permeability varied significantly. The poor gas permeability of PAN, PEI, and PSU membranes precluded their direct use as asymmetric membranes in ECMO oxygenators, but they could serve as suitable support layers in composite membranes to provide stable mechanical strength. T8 membrane demonstrated outstanding performance compared to commercial PMP membrane: O2 and CO2 permeability reached 1 029 and 2 464 Barrer, respectively, with excellent hydrophobicity, moisture resistance and thermal stability. And T8 was coated onto PAN support substrate to fabricate composite membranes. Characterization via SEM, AFM, contact angle measurements, and gas permeability tests revealed that favorable surface morphology, outstanding hydrophobicity, and high gas permeance for the T8/PAN composite membranes. Their O2 and CO2 permeance reached 1 770 and 3 122 GPU, respectively. This study demonstrated that fluororubber holds significant application potential as an ideal candidate for next-generation ECMO membrane oxygenators.

Funds：

新材料重大专项项目（2024ZD0603400）

AuthorIntro：
第一作者简介： 桑晨宇（2001-），男，河南安阳人，硕士研究生，主要从事气体分离膜研究.*通讯作者，盛鲁杰，E-mail：shenglujie@dicp.ac.cn；马红超，E-mail：m-h-c@sohu.com

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