Hydrophilicity and anti-fouling modification of polyethersulfone membrane by grafting copolymer chains via surface initiated electrochemically mediated atom transfer radical polymerization
Abstract
In this study, we report the preparation, characterization and properties of a polyethersulfone membrane modified by surface-initiated electrochemically atom transfer radical polymerization. Three kinds of copolymer brushes of the homopolymer, block copolymer, and random variety are covalently grafted onto the surface of the polyethersulfone membrane. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and a mercury intrusion porosimeter are applied to characterize the chemical composition, morphologies, roughnesses, and pore structure of membranes. A static water contact angle experiment shows that the hydrophilicity of modified membranes is largely enhanced due to the hydrophilic polymer brush; and filtration experiments fed with water and BSA show that both the permeation and anti-fouling properties of fabricated membranes are improved significantly. Moreover, the membrane modified by random copolymers shows the best resistance to protein adsorption compared to those of the block copolymer and homopolymer brushes.