Bio-Inspired Robust Membranes Nanoengineered from Interpenetrating Polymer Networks of Polybenzimidazole/Polydopamine

Abstract

Marine mussel inspired polydopamine (PDA) has received increased attention due to its good thermal and chemical stability as well as strong adhesion on most materials. In this work, high-performance nanofiltration membranes based on interpenetrating polymer networks (IPN) incorporating PDA and polybenzimidazole (PBI) were developed for organic solvent nanofiltration (OSN). Generally, in order to obtain solvent stability, polymers need to be covalently cross-linked under harsh conditions, which inevitably leads to losses in permeability and mechanical flexibility. Surprisingly, by in situ polymerization of dopamine within a PBI support, excellent solvent resistance and permeance of polar aprotic solvents were obtained without covalent cross-linking of the PBI backbone due to the formation of an IPN. The molecular weight cutoff and permeance of the membranes can be fine-tuned by changing the polymerization time. Robust membrane performance was achieved in conventional and emerging green polar aprotic solvents (PAS) in a wide temperature range covering −10 °C to +100 °C. It was successfully demonstrated that the in situ polymerization of PDAcreating an IPNcan provide a simple and green alternative to covalent cross-linking of membranes. To elucidate the nature of the solvent stability, a detailed analysis was performed that revealed that physical entanglement along with strong secondary interaction synergistically enable solvent resistance with as low as 1–3% PDA content.

Beetle‐Inspired Assembly of Heterostructured Lamellar Membranes with Polymer Cluster–Patterned Surface for Enhanced Molecular Permeation

“…Although such membranes have been rarely reported, some other bioinspired membranes have been prepared and acquire outstanding performances . For instance, inspired by marine mussel, Szekely et al fabricated a nanofiltration membrane by in situ polymerization of dopamine within polybenzimidazole support, acquiring a high DMF permeance (≈26 L m −2 h −1 bar −1 ) …”

Chitosan-Based Layer-by-Layer Assembly: Towards Application on Quality Maintenance of Lemon Fruits

“…Recently, the research on green and sustainable polymers has been increasingly attractive, such as alginate [4], polarclean [5], bamboo [6], cellulose [7], Tamisolve [8], and biocoatings [9]. Chitosan, the biodegradable polymer made from the deacetylation of natural polysaccharide chitin [10], exhibits the intrinsic antimicrobial activity and has been widely utilized in fresh produce [11].…”

Superhydrophilic Coating with Antibacterial and Oil-Repellent Properties via NaIO4-Triggered Polydopamine/Sulfobetaine Methacrylate Polymerization

“…Dopamine is an organic compound containing a catechol group and side-chain amine. It readily forms insoluble polydopamine (PDA) in alkaline solutions (tris-base, pH 8.5) via oxidative polymerization and non-covalent aggregation and then deposits on the surface targeting widespread applications, such as oil separation [ 19 ], drug release [ 20 ], sensing [ 21 ], shielding [ 22 ], membranes [ 23 ]. However, the synthesis of PDA coatings is usually time-consuming.…”