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

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Abstract

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. Synthesis of novel Cu2O NWs/PSF-blended ultrafiltration membrane was achieved via phase inversion method by dispersing one-dimensional Cu2O nanowires in PSF casting solutions. Various techniques such as XRD, SEM, TEM, and EDS were applied to characterize and investigate the properties of nanowires and membranes. 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 permeation property compared to pure PSF membrane. The overall work can not only provide a new way for preparation of novel blended membranes with multidimensional nanomaterials, but can also be beneficial to solve the annoying problem of biofouling.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 21236008 and 21476206), the Taishan Scholarship Blue Industry Program from Shandong Provincial Government (Grant No. 2014008), the Fujian Oceanic Hi-Tech R&D Program (No. 2014-06), and the Zhejiang Provincial Bureau of Science and Technology (Grant No. 2014C33032).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Oceanic and Environmental Chemical Engineering, College of Chemical Engineering and Material Science and College of Ocean, and State Key Lab Breeding Base of Green Chemical Synthesis Technology and Zhejiang Collaborative Innovation Center of Membrane Separation and Water Treatment, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, 310014, China

    Zehai Xu, Shuaiju Ye, Zheng Fan, Fanghua Ren, Congjie Gao & Guoliang Zhang

  2. College of Chemistry and Life Science, Quanzhou Normal University, Quanzhou, 362000, China

    Qingbiao Li, Guoqing Li & Guoliang Zhang

  3. Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering and National Laboratory for Green Chemical Productions of Alcohols, Ethers and Esters, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, China

    Qingbiao Li

Authors
  1. Zehai Xu
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  2. Shuaiju Ye
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  3. Zheng Fan
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  4. Fanghua Ren
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  5. Congjie Gao
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  6. Qingbiao Li
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  7. Guoqing Li
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  8. Guoliang Zhang
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Correspondence to Guoliang Zhang.

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Xu, Z., Ye, S., Fan, Z. et al. Preparation of Cu2O nanowire-blended polysulfone ultrafiltration membrane with improved stability and antimicrobial activity. J Nanopart Res 17, 409 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-015-3215-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-015-3215-y

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