Poly (methyl vinyl ether-alt-maleic anhydride) (PMVE-MA) for antifouling nanofiltration membrane preparation

Synthesis of nanofiltration membranes with antifouling performance using simple and green methods is crucial for nanofiltration membrane development. This work presents a novel type of poly (methyl vinyl ether- alt -maleic anhydride) (PMVE-MA) based composite nanofiltration membrane with promising anti-fouling performance. The membranes were synthesized by co -depositing mixed solutions of PMVE-MA and amino silane coupling agents on porous polyethersulfone (PES) supports, followed by thermal annealing. The selective layer was formed on the PES support through nucleophilic addition of amines to anhydrides, coupling with silane hydrolysis-condensation under acid catalysis. The performance of the membranes was adjusted by controlling the concentration of PMVE-MA, the concentration of sulfuric acid, and the mass ratio of PMVE-MA to amino silane coupling agents. Under an optimal condition, a tight (PMVE-MA)-APTES/PES membrane with water permeance of 7.9 L m −2  h −1  bar −1 and a MWCO of 330 Da was obtained. The rejection of Na 2 SO 4 of the membrane reached 92 %. The anti-fouling test under filtration of bovine serum protein (BSA) showed the membrane had a high-water flux recovery rate of 99.3 %, indicating an excellent antifouling performance. This work highlights the potential of using PMVE-MA as a material for antifouling nanofiltration membrane design.