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Grafting Branch Length and Density Dependent Performance of Zwitterionic Polymer Decorated Polypropylene Membrane

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Abstract

Branch length and density have critical effects on membrane performances; however, it is regarded to be traditionally difficult to investigate the relationship due to the uncontrolled membrane modification methods. In this study, zwitterionic polymer with controlled grafting branch chain length (degree of polymerization) and grafting density (grafting chains per membrane area) was tethered to the microporous polypropylene membrane surface based on the combination of reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization technique with click reaction. The modified membranes were tested by filtrating protein dispersion to highlight the correlations of branch chain length and grafting density with the membrane permeation performances. The pure water flux, the flux recovery ratio are positively and significantly, and the irreversible fouling negatively and significantly correlated with grafting density. These results demonstrate that the larger the coverage of the membrane with poly{[2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl]-dimethyl-(3-sulfopropyl) ammonium hydroxide} (PMEDSAH), the higher the pure water flux and the higher the flux recover ratio, and the lower the irreversible fouling, which shows that high grafting density is favorable to fouling reducing.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 21371008).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Anhui Normal University, Wuhu, 241000, China

    Jing-Jing Wu, Jin Zhou, Jing-Qiu Rong, Yao Lu, Hui Dong & Jia-Shan Gu

  2. Department of Material and Chemical Engineering, Chizhou University, Chizhou, 247000, China

    Jin Zhou & Hai-Yin Yu

Authors
  1. Jing-Jing Wu
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  2. Jin Zhou
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  4. Yao Lu
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Correspondence to Jin Zhou or Hai-Yin Yu.

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Wu, JJ., Zhou, J., Rong, JQ. et al. Grafting Branch Length and Density Dependent Performance of Zwitterionic Polymer Decorated Polypropylene Membrane. Chin J Polym Sci 36, 528–535 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10118-018-2013-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10118-018-2013-2

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