Manipulating the segregation behavior of polyethylene glycol by hydrogen bonding interaction to endow ultrafiltration membranes with enhanced antifouling performance

Surface grafting and surface segregation are two dominant methods for antifouling membrane fabrication. Polyethylene glycol (PEG) has been demonstrated as the most popular surface modifier in surface grafting method, but has been less utilized in surface segregation method. In this study, antifouling ultrafiltration membranes were prepared via the non-solvent induced phase separation (NIPS), using polyethersulfone (PES) as membrane matrix, PEG as both surface modifier and pore forming agent, and m-trihydroxybenzene (MTB) as hydrogen bond donor, respectively. The hydrogen bonding interaction between PES and PEG mediated by MTB was verified by Raman spectra and FT-IR spectra analysis, and the surface segregation behavior of PEG manipulated by hydrogen bonding interaction was explored by water contact angle and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis. The enhanced antifouling performance of PES/PEG–MTB ultrafiltration membranes was verified by the increased flux recovery ratio in fouling resistance experiment. Moreover, the residence stability of PEG on membrane surface was confirmed by a long-term test of incubating membranes in deionized water. This study provided a novel and generic approach to fabricate antifouling ultrafiltration membranes by surface segregation method.