Zwitterionic Polysulfone Copolymer/Polysulfone Blended Ultrafiltration Membranes with Excellent Thermostability and Antifouling Properties

• Published in: Membranes (Basel) Vol. 11; no. 12; p. 932
• Main Authors: Li, Dalong, Gao, Changlu, Wang, Xinyue, Wu, Gang, Yin, Jinghua, Huang, Yudong, Sun, Xiuhua
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 26-11-2021; MDPI
• Subjects: Antifouling; Antifouling substances; Bisphenol A; Bovine serum albumin; Contact angle; Copolymers; Ethanol; Fluctuations; Heat treatment; Heat treatments; High temperature; Hydration; Membrane processes; Membranes; Morphology; Nitrogen; NMR; Nuclear magnetic resonance; Polyethylene glycol; Polymers; Polysulfone; Polysulfone resins; Pore formation; Porosity; Rejection; Scanning electron microscopy; Separation; Serum albumin; Solvents; Spectroscopy; Spectrum analysis; sulfobetaine polysulfone; Thermal stability; thermostability; Ultrafiltration; Zwitterions; Germany; zwitterions; thermostability; antifouling; sulfobetaine polysulfone
• ISSN: 2077-0375; 2077-0375
• DOI: 10.3390/membranes11120932

Membrane fouling has been one of the most important challenges in membrane separation operations. In this study, we report a facile strategy to prepare antifouling polysulfone (PSf) UF membranes by blending amphiphilic zwitterion polysulfone-co-sulfobetaine polysulfone (PSf-co-SBPSf) copolymer. The copolymer chemical structure was characterized by
HNMR spectroscopy. The PSf/PSf-co-SBPSf blend membranes with various zwitterionic SBPSf segment contents exhibited better surface hydrophilicity and excellent antifouling ability compared to PSf and PSf/PEG membranes. The significant increase of both porosity and water permeance indicates that the PSf-co-SBPSf has a pore-forming effect. The pure water flux and flux recovery ratio of the PSf/PSf-co-SBPSf blend membranes were both remarked to improve 286.43 L/m
h and 92.26%, while bovine serum albumin (BSA) rejection remained at a high level (97.66%). More importantly, the water flux and BSA rejection see minimal variance after heat treatment, indicating excellent thermostability. Overall, the PSf/PSf-co-SBPSf blend membranes achieved a comprehensive performance of sustainable hydrophilic, high permeation flux, and remarkable antifouling ability, thus becoming a promising candidate in high-temperature separation application.