A novel polysaccharide-grafted gold nanoparticles synthesized via carboxyl-trithiocarbonates for modification of separation membrane

Abstract Permeability and selectivity are two important parameters for evaluating membrane separation performance. In this work, the polysaccharide-functionalized gold nanoparticles (DexDTM-AuNP) are synthesized by one-step reduction with NaBH 4 and used as additive for modification of PES membrane to improve the hydrophilicity of the membrane. In comparison with the pristine PES membrane, the water contact angle (WCA) of the DexDTM-AuNP-modified membrane significantly decreases. When the content of DexDTM-AuNP is 3 wt%, the WCA of the modified membrane decreases from 89.3° to 61.1°, indicating excellent hydrophilicity. The modified membrane shows high pure water flux of up to 134.5 L m −2  h −1 , and the rejection ratio for bovine serum albumin, congo red, and methyl blue are 98.8, 99.3, and 93.6%, respectively. DexDTM-AuNP-modified membrane exhibits excellent hydrophilicity, anti-fouling ability, and separation performance. Therefore, the strategy has great potential for practical applications in water purification and other separation fields. Graphic Abstract