Anti-fouling ultrafiltration membrane prepared from polysulfone-graft-methyl acrylate copolymers by UV-induced grafting method

Abstract

Membrane fouling is one of the most important challenges faced in membrane ultrafiltration operations. The copolymers of polysulfone-graft-methyl acrylate were synthesized by homogeneous photo-initiated graft copolymerization. The variables affecting the degree of grafting, such as the time of UV (Ultraviolet-visible) irradiation and the concentrations of the methyl acrylate and photoinitiator, were investigated. The graft copolymer membranes were prepared by the phase inversion method. The chemical and morphological changes were characterized by attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR/FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy, and water contact angles measurements. Results revealed that methyl acrylate groups were present on the membranes and the graft degree of methyl acrylate had remarkable effect on the performance of membranes. Pure water contact angle on the membrane surface decreases with the increase of methyl acrylate graft degree, which indicated that the hydrophilicity of graft copolymer membranes was improved. The permeation fluxes of pure water and bovine serum albumin solution were measured to evaluate the antifouling property of graft copolymer membranes, the results of which have shown an enhancement of antifouling property for graft copolymer membranes.

Ipomea carnea-based silver nanoparticle synthesis for antibacterial activity against selected human pathogens

“…This clearly demonstrates that the antimycobacterial activity is due to the silver nanoparticles embedded in the membrane and not due to the CA itself. The development of low fouling membranes or antifouling membranes is an intense area of research in membrane separation technology [27,28]. The use of nanoparticles in the manufacture of membranes allows for both a high degree of control over membrane fouling and the ability to produce desired structures [29][30][31].…”

Preparation and characterization of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) based ultrafiltration membranes using nano γ-Al2O3

“…Surface modification and blending techniques are mostly adapted due to their versatile controlling conditions. Surface modification methods include plasma [1][2][3], UV [4][5][6][7], electron beam surface induced grafting polymerization [8][9][10][11], and surface living/controlled radical polymerization [12][13][14][15][16][17][18]. Blending methods usually involve some amphiphilic copolymers, requiring to be synthesized elaborately through atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) [19][20][21] or reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer polymerization (RAFT) [3,22].…”

Modification of Nanofiltration Membranes by Surface-Initiated Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization for Produced Water Filtration

“…Thus, membrane fouling may possibly be controlled by changing the membrane surface chemistry. Previous investigations have demonstrated that, generally speaking, increasing membrane surface hydrophilicity can inhibit membrane fouling in water=wastewater treatment operations (7).…”