Theoretical and experimental research of polyelectrolyte multilayer membrane prepared by layer by layer self-assembly

Layer-by-layer self-assembly of polyelectrolytes is one of the most promising methods for preparing nanofiltration membranes. Here poly (sodium 4-styrenesulfonate) (PSS) and poly (diallyldim-ethylammonium chloride) (PDADMAC) were chosen to prepare polyelectrolyte multilayer (PEM) membrane. The effects of background salt concentration, PSS concentration, background salt types, the number of layers and the outermost functional groups on the separation performance of the PEM were investigated systematically. Molecular dynamic simulation was employed to simulate the influence of background salt on the diffusion of PDADMAC. The simulation results agree well with the experimental results. The optimized (PSS/PDADMAC)4.5 membrane with Na2SO4 as background salt shows permeance of 15.9 LMH/bar, Na2SO4 rejection of 98.2 %, and an excellent stability. Our study provides both theoretical and experimental supports for the preparation of PEM membranes using LBL method.