Anti-fouling ultrafiltration membrane prepared from polysulfone-graft-methylacrylate copolymers by UV-induced grafting method
HUA Helin , LI Na , WU Linlin , ZHONG Hui , WU Guangxia , YUAN Zonghuan , LIN Xiangwei , TANG Lianyi
DOI:
Received July 27, 2007,Revised November 14, 2007, Accepted , Available online
Volume 20,2008,Pages 565-570
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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 a ecting
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.
