Facile Synthesis of Cellulose Acetate Ultrafiltration Membrane with Stimuli‐Responsiveness to pH and Temperature Using the Additive of F127‐b‐PDMAEMA

Abstract

We fabricate a novel cellulose acetate (CA) ultrafiltration membrane modified by block copolymer F127-b-PDMAEMA, which is synthesized using F127 and DMAEMA via the ARGET ATRP method. Compared to conventional ultrafiltration membranes, the incorporation of both F127 and PDMAEMA can not only readily increase the hydrophilicity of the membrane, but also exhibit stimuli-responsiveness to temperature and pH. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), and gel permeation chromatography (GPC) are employed to analyze the structure of the F127-b-PDMAEMA. The membrane properties are evaluated via scanning electron microscope (SEM) imaging, porosity test, automatic target recognition Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), water contact angle test and permeation test. The results indicate that the F127-b-PDMAEMA is an excellent pore agent, which contributes to an enhancement of the membrane in sensitivity to temperature and pH. The modified membrane also exhibits lower water contact angle (64.5°), which is attributed to the good anti-fouling performance and high water permeation.

Recent advances in cellulose-based membranes for their sensing applications

“…Adapted with permission from Zhang et al ( 2019c ), Copyright 2019, Elsevier B.V. b The mechanism of temperature responsiveness of the membrane. Adapted with permission from Li et al ( 2017c ), Copyright 2019, Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA …”

“…A novel cellulose acetate (CA) ultrafiltration membrane modified with block copolymer polyethylene oxide-polypropylene oxide-polyethylene oxide/poly(2-(dimethylamino) ethyl methacrylate) F127-b-PDMAEMA through phase inversion method was prepared by Zhou Jiancheng and co-workers, with stimuli-responsiveness to temperature (Li et al 2017a , b , c ). As an amphiphilic additive, F127-b-PDMAEMA can change the pore structure of this membrane and improve their porosity, which can contribute to increase the sensitivity of this membrane towards temperature.…”

“…Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have been widely used in sensing fields due to their excellent photo-physical properties (Rao et al 2019 ). Hou Changjun designed a colorimetric paper-based membrane sensor through the process of TiO 2 modification, hydrophobic/hydrophilic coating, –NH 2 and –SH groups decoration, and AuNPs immobilization (Li et al 2017a , b , c ). With the increase of Fe 3+ concentrations, the original reddish intensity of the membrane gradually decreased.…”

“…A colorimetric paper-based membrane sensor for Ni 2+ determination was developed by Hou Changjun and co-workers, through a preparation procedure of TiO 2 coating, calcination, hexadecyltrimethoxysilane (HTDES) and hydrophilic modification (Li et al 2017a , b , c ). The membrane sensor using zincon/hollow ZnSiO 3 nanospheres/Na 2 -EDTA solutions presented a dynamic range (0.65–89 µM) and a calculated detection limit 0.68 µM.…”

“…(Fu et al 2019 ; Zhu et al 2019a , b ; Li et al 2017a , b , c ; Amin 2015 ; Duong et al 2018 ; Hittini et al 2020 ; Tang et al 2019 ). The excellent sensing performances can be obtained by introducing metal nanowires, metal nanoparticles, carbon dots, quantum dots, carbon nanotubes, fluorophores, organic dyes and antigen-antibodies into cellulose membranes through physical-chemical methods (Lou et al 2020 ; Zhang et al 2019a , b , c ; Jiang et al 2020a , b ; Li et al 2017a , b , c ; Lv et al 2019a , b ; Shankar et al 2020 ).…”