Polydopamine/Cysteine surface modified isoporous membranes with self-cleaning properties

Abstract The major challenge in membrane filtration is fouling which reduces the membrane performance. Fouling is mainly due to the adhesion of foulants on the membrane surfaces. In this work, we studied the fouling behavior of polystyrene- b -poly(4-vinylpyridine) (PS- b -P4VP) isoporous membrane and the mussel inspired polydopamine/ L -cysteine isoporous zwitterionic membrane. Polystyrene- b -poly(4-vinylpyridine) (PS- b -P4VP) isoporous membranes were fabricated via self-assembly and non-solvent induced phase separation method. Subsequently, the isoporous membrane was modified by a mild mussel-inspired polydopamine (PDA) coating; the isoporous surface structure and the water flux was retained. Zwitterionic L -cysteine was further anchored on the PDA coated membranes via Michael addition reaction at pH 7 and 50 °C to alleviate their antifouling ability with foulants solution. The membranes were thoroughly characterized using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and zeta potential measurements. Contact angle and dynamic scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurements were carried out to examine the hydrophilicity. The pH-responsive behavior of the modified membrane remains unchanged and antifouling ability after PDA/ L -cysteine functionalization was improved. The modified and unmodified isoporous membranes were tested using humic acid and natural organic matter model solutions at 0.5 bar feed pressure.