Novel polysulfone hybrid ultrafiltration membrane prepared with TiO2-g-HEMA and its antifouling characteristics

Hybrid membranes formed by blending TiO 2 nanoparticles and organic materials are attractive for creating new materials with enhanced properties such as high permselectivity, good hydrophilicity and excellent fouling resistance in a wide range of applications. In order to overcome the agglomeration of nanoparticles in membranes and leakage of nanoparticles from nanocomposite membranes in the water treatment process and enhance the hydrophilicity of membranes, polymer chains of HEMA (2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) were grown from TiO 2 by the atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) process in methanol. The hybrid polysulfone (PSF) membranes were then prepared by adding different ratios of TiO 2 (T membranes) and TiO 2 -g-HEMA (HT membranes) particles via phase inversion induced by the immersion precipitation technique. The modification nanoparticles were found to provide obvious improvements in reducing the particles agglomeration and fouling in sheet membranes. Different techniques such as SEM, TEM , FTIR, EDS, contact angle goniometry and filtration experiments of water, BSA and EPS were applied to characterize and explore the performance of particles and membranes. Compared with unmodified TiO 2 particles, modified TiO 2 particles held enhanced hydrophilicity, better compatibility and dispersibility in organic solvent and matrix polymer . Similarly, the HT membranes exhibited superior water flux and anti-pollution performance in separation than the pure PSF membrane and T membranes.