High-flux, antibacterial ultrafiltration membranes by facile blending with N-halamine grafted halloysite nanotubes

N-Halamine grafted halloysite nanotubes (N-halamine@HNTs) were used as an antibacterial agents to fabricate polyethersulfone (PES) ultrafiltration (UF) hybrid membranes. N-Halamine@HNTs were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS). The chemical compositions, storage modulus, tan δ, morphology and performance of the membranes were characterized by attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectra (ATR-FTIR), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), water contact angle, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), overall porosity and pore size measurements. The results showed that the hydrophilicity of the membranes was improved greatly after adding N-halamine@HNTs. Water flux of the hybrid membrane could reach as high as 248.3 L m−2 h−1 when the content of N-halamine@HNTs was 1.0 wt%. In addition, the antibacterial test indicated that the hybrid membranes showed good antibacterial activity against E. coli.