Poly(vinyl alcohol)/polydopamine hybrid nanofiltration membrane fabricated through aqueous electrospraying with excellent antifouling and chlorine resistance

Abstract Nanofiltration membrane with excellent antifouling and chlorine resistance properties fabricated through green and sustainable strategy was one of recent research hotspots. In this study, poly(vinyl alcohol)/polydopamine hybrid nanofiltration membrane was fabricated through aqueous electrospraying. Crosslinked poly(vinyl alcohol) favors the hydrophilic and antifouling surfaces and the incorporated polydopamine significantly enhanced membrane permeance due to its greater spatial structure. Meanwhile, hydrogen bond between poly(vinyl alcohol) and polydopamine facilitated the compatibility. The fabricated C-M2 membrane exhibited excellent antifouling property with low total flux decline ratio (FDR = 6.1%) and high flux recovery ratio (FRR = 98.9%), which was superior to commercial NF270 membrane (FDR = 10.7%, FRR = 96.6%). More significantly, C-M2 membrane showed excellent chlorine resistance property due to the absence of chlorine sensitive acyl carbonyl structure that commonly encountered in polyamide based membrane (e.g., NF270 and NF90). In general, an aqueous electrospray strategy was proposed for fabricating nanofiltration membrane with enhanced antifouling and chlorine resistance.