Modified poly (4-methyl-1-pentene) membranes by surface segregation for blood oxygenation

Oxygenation membranes in extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) with excellent gas permeability, good hemocompatibility and durable resistance to plasma leakage is the key to achieve long-term and efficient blood oxygenation. This study put forward surface segregation strategy in thermally induced phase separation (TIPS) of poly (4-methyl-1-pentene) (PMP) membranes to realize the in-situ surface modification. Heterostructured PMP membranes with hydrophilic hemocompatible surface and hydrophobic body were obtained by migration of hydrophilic segments of the amphiphilic block copolymer Pluronic F127 to the surface in their preparation process. The hydrophilic surface could effectively improve hemocompatibility of membranes through hydration layer effect and steric hindrance effect, also reduce platelet adhesion significantly, and prolong the coagulation time of the four coagulation items within the normal physiological range of human body. When adding 10 wt% F127, the membrane exhibited an optimum CO2 permeance of ∼11461 GPU and O2 permeance of ∼13335 GPU, respectively, and an optimized blood oxygenation performance in vitro with O2 flux of 122.9 ml min−1 m−2 and CO2 flux of 129.2 ml min−1 m−2, and the asymmetric structure ensures resistance to plasma leakage for more than two months, that showed great application potential. Besides, preparation of hollow fiber membranes based on surface segregation was also explored, aiming to realize the enhanced performance and large-scale preparation of PMP oxygenation membranes. The membranes prepared in this work exhibited an outstanding performance when applied in blood oxygenation, showing great application potentials.