Preparation of Cu2O nanowire-blended polysulfone ultrafiltration membrane with improved stability and antimicrobial activity

Polysulfone (PSF) membranes have been widely applied in water and wastewater treatment, food-processing and biomedical fields. In this study, we report the preparation of modified PSF membranes by blending PSF with Cu2O nanowires (NWs) to improve their stability and antifouling activity. Syn- thesis of novel Cu2O NWs/PSF-blended ultrafiltration membrane was achieved via phase inversion method bydispersingone-dimensionalCu2OnanowiresinPSF casting solutions. Various techniques such as XRD, SEM, TEM, and EDS were applied to characterize and investigate the properties of nanowires and mem- branes. The introduced Cu2O nanowires can firmly be restricted into micropores of PSF membranes, and therefore, they can effectively prevent the serious leaking problem of inorganic substances in separation process. The blended PSF membranes also provided enhanced antimicrobial activity and superior perme- ation property compared to pure PSF membrane. The overall work can not only provide a new way for preparation of novel blended membranes with multi- dimensional nanomaterials, but can also be beneficial to solve the annoying problem of biofouling.