Advanced amino acid-based biomimetic Janus membrane for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is a life support system that provides extracorporeal respiration and circulation. Current oxygenation membranes still face the challenges of plasma leakage, low gas exchange efficiency of O2 and CO2, and poor biocompatibility. Here, we describe the design and realization of a biomimetic Janus membrane to simulate the structural characteristics of the alveolar blood-gas barrier. The asymmetric structure is constructed by sequential assembly of a hydrophobic polydimethylsiloxane layer, hydrophilic amino acid layer, and sulfonate grafting layer, which provide the functions of preventing plasma leakage, improving gas exchange performance, and maintaining biocompatibility. Importantly, the membrane can offer efficient blood oxygenation, achieving O2 and CO2 transfer rates of ∼54 and ∼131 mL m−2 min−1, respectively. This work demonstrates that the smartly designed Janus structure provides the desired comprehensive properties of an oxygenation membrane and offers valuable guidance for the development of more advanced oxygenation membranes.