Amphiphilic cellulose for enhancing the antifouling and separation performances of poly (acrylonitrile-co-methyl acrylate) ultrafiltration membrane

Membrane fouling results in short membrane life and high operating costs, which is a major obstacle in membrane filtration technology. Here, an amphiphilic cellulose (MCC-C16) was synthesized and used as an additive to mix with poly (acrylonitrile-co-methyl acrylate) (P(AN-MA)) copolymer. P(AN-MA)/MCC-C16 composite membranes were formed via non-solvent induced phase separation, which exhibited excellent antifouling ability, hydrophilicity, and permeability compared with the control sample P(AN-MA) membrane. The P(AN-MA)/MCC-C16 composite membranes exhibited higher pure water flux, bovine serum albumin (BSA) flux, and flux recovery rate (FRR) than those of the pristine membrane when 5 wt% MCC-C16 was added. The pure water flux increased from 284 to 459 L/m2 h, BSA rejection was up to 95.2%, and the highest flux recovery ratio was up to 86.7%. The lowest irreversible fouling was depressed to 13.5% after three cycles of permeation. MCC-C16 is valuable in fabricating PAN-based ultrafiltration membranes for water treatment and is low cost, and environmentally friendly with excellent antifouling performance.