Improvement in anti‐biofouling property of polyamide thin‐film composite membranes by using copper nanoparticles

Abstract Membrane biofouling is a major problem of the membrane process owing to microbial growth and biofilm on the membrane surface. In this work, a thin‐film composite polyamide membrane was modified with poly(ethylene glycol) and copper nanoparticles. Results demonstrated that surface modification induced changes in membrane‐surface characteristics and enhanced filtration property. The membrane surfaces became more hydrophilic (decreased water contact angle from around 48° to 28°) and had better antibacterial properties than the original ones. The separation property of modified membranes improved, increasing the membrane flux (up to 40%) and antifouling property simultaneously. In particular, the maintained flux ratio (anti‐biofouling property) significantly increased after 4 days of immersing the membranes in Escherichia coli bacterial solution. The membranes were then used for filtration tests with different foulants, such as humic acid and bovine serum albumin solutions.