Advanced hemocompatible polyethersulfone composite artificial lung membrane with efficient CO_(2)/O_(2)exchange channel constructed by modified carbon nanotubes network

Artificial lung membranes as the core module of the extracorporeal membrane oxygenation technology(ECMO)execute the function of extracorporeal blood-gas barrier accomplishing CO_(2)/O_(2)exchange with blood.However,the unsatisfactory hemocompatibility and difficulty in functionalization are the promi-nent challenges faced by current artificial lung membrane materials.In this study,polyethersulfone(PES)composite membranes with self-anticoagulant property and high gas exchange efficient are fabricated by blending PES matrix with poly(vinylamine)(PVAm)modified carboxylic carbon nanotubes(mCNTs)and citrate-based poly(octamethylene-citrate)(POC)pre-polymers.The mCNTs construct specific gas transfer channels within the composite membranes to enhance the gas permeability,while the POC pre-polymers provide anticoagulant property based on the chelation to blood Ca^(2+)and the inactivation effect to in-trinsic coagulation factors.Importantly,directed by the actual ECMO gas exchange mode,we design a gas-liquid convectional circulation device that could evaluate gas exchange efficiency for the composite membranes under mimetic ECMO state.Therefore,this strategy not only proposes a new design method of advanced artificial lung membranes to solve the practical challenges in the current ECMO technology,but also establishes a scientific testing method to evaluate the gas exchange performance for new-type artificial lung membrane materials in the future.

“1+1>2”:Highly efficient removal of organic pollutants by composite nanofibrous membrane based on the synergistic effect of adsorption and photocatalysis

Adsorption and photocatalysis are regarded as two desirable technologies for wastewater remediation,but are still unsatisfactory in removal effect,eco-friendly regeneration and facile reusability.In this study,we developed a composite nanofibrous membrane material with excellent removal performance for organic pollutants based on synergistic adsorption and photocatalysis.A novel boron-doped,nitrogen-deficient graphitic carbon nitride(B-C3N4)photocatalyst as well as an amphiphilic copolymer of methyl methacrylate and acrylic acid(p(MMA-AA))were synthesized respectively,and then used to modify polyethersulfone for the fabrication of composite nanofibrous membrane with improved hydrophilicity,negativelycharge property and enhanced visible light response simultaneously.Subsequently,the synergistic effect of adsorption and photocatalytic degradation for organic pollutants were identified especially and resulted in an excellent removal efficiency even superior to the combination of adsorption and photocatalytic degradation,which could be called a“1+1>2”effect.In addition,the regeneration and reusability,the purification ability for multicomponent wastewater,and the photocatalytic mechanism,were investigated and discussed systematically.In this work,we not only prepared the nanofibrous membrane with synergistic effect of adsorption and photocatalysis,but also provided a versatile approach to design dualfunctional support material to ensure the practical applications of powdery photocatalyst in wastewater treatment.