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 1HNMR 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/m2h 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.
Keywords: antifouling; sulfobetaine polysulfone; thermostability; zwitterions.