Rapid surface modification of ultrafiltration membranes for enhanced antifouling properties
In this work, several ultrafiltration (UF) membranes with enhanced antifouling properties were fabricated using a rapid and green surface modification method that was based on the plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). Two types of hydrophilic monomers—acrylic acid (AA) and 2-hydroxyethy...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Published: |
MDPI
2020
|
| Subjects: |
| _version_ | 1796865283803054080 |
|---|---|
| author | Said, Noresah Khoo, Ying Siew Lau, Woei Jye Gürsoy, Mehmet Karaman, Mustafa Ting, Teo Ming Abouzari-Lotf, Ebrahim Ismail, Ahmad Fauzi |
| author_facet | Said, Noresah Khoo, Ying Siew Lau, Woei Jye Gürsoy, Mehmet Karaman, Mustafa Ting, Teo Ming Abouzari-Lotf, Ebrahim Ismail, Ahmad Fauzi |
| author_sort | Said, Noresah |
| collection | ePrints |
| description | In this work, several ultrafiltration (UF) membranes with enhanced antifouling properties were fabricated using a rapid and green surface modification method that was based on the plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). Two types of hydrophilic monomers—acrylic acid (AA) and 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) were, respectively, deposited on the surface of a commercial UF membrane and the effects of plasma deposition time (i.e., 15 s, 30 s, 60 s, and 90 s) on the surface properties of the membrane were investigated. The modified membranes were then subjected to filtration using 2000 mg/L pepsin and bovine serum albumin (BSA) solutions as feed. Microscopic and spectroscopic analyses confirmed the successful deposition of AA and HEMA on the membrane surface and the decrease in water contact angle with increasing plasma deposition time strongly indicated the increase in surface hydrophilicity due to the considerable enrichment of the hydrophilic segment of AA and HEMA on the membrane surface. However, a prolonged plasma deposition time (>15 s) should be avoided as it led to the formation of a thicker coating layer that significantly reduced the membrane pure water flux with no significant change in the solute rejection rate. Upon 15-s plasma deposition, the AA-modified membrane recorded the pepsin and BSA rejections of 83.9% and 97.5%, respectively, while the HEMA-modified membrane rejected at least 98.5% for both pepsin and BSA. Compared to the control membrane, the AA-modified and HEMA-modified membranes also showed a lower degree of flux decline and better flux recovery rate (>90%), suggesting that the membrane antifouling properties were improved and most of the fouling was reversible and could be removed via simple water cleaning process. We demonstrated in this work that the PECVD technique is a promising surface modification method that could be employed to rapidly improve membrane surface hydrophilicity (15 s) for the enhanced protein purification process without using any organic solvent during the plasma modification process. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-05T20:54:38Z |
| format | Article |
| id | utm.eprints-91722 |
| institution | Universiti Teknologi Malaysia - ePrints |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-05T20:54:38Z |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publisher | MDPI |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | utm.eprints-917222021-07-27T06:23:39Z http://eprints.utm.my/91722/ Rapid surface modification of ultrafiltration membranes for enhanced antifouling properties Said, Noresah Khoo, Ying Siew Lau, Woei Jye Gürsoy, Mehmet Karaman, Mustafa Ting, Teo Ming Abouzari-Lotf, Ebrahim Ismail, Ahmad Fauzi TP Chemical technology In this work, several ultrafiltration (UF) membranes with enhanced antifouling properties were fabricated using a rapid and green surface modification method that was based on the plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). Two types of hydrophilic monomers—acrylic acid (AA) and 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) were, respectively, deposited on the surface of a commercial UF membrane and the effects of plasma deposition time (i.e., 15 s, 30 s, 60 s, and 90 s) on the surface properties of the membrane were investigated. The modified membranes were then subjected to filtration using 2000 mg/L pepsin and bovine serum albumin (BSA) solutions as feed. Microscopic and spectroscopic analyses confirmed the successful deposition of AA and HEMA on the membrane surface and the decrease in water contact angle with increasing plasma deposition time strongly indicated the increase in surface hydrophilicity due to the considerable enrichment of the hydrophilic segment of AA and HEMA on the membrane surface. However, a prolonged plasma deposition time (>15 s) should be avoided as it led to the formation of a thicker coating layer that significantly reduced the membrane pure water flux with no significant change in the solute rejection rate. Upon 15-s plasma deposition, the AA-modified membrane recorded the pepsin and BSA rejections of 83.9% and 97.5%, respectively, while the HEMA-modified membrane rejected at least 98.5% for both pepsin and BSA. Compared to the control membrane, the AA-modified and HEMA-modified membranes also showed a lower degree of flux decline and better flux recovery rate (>90%), suggesting that the membrane antifouling properties were improved and most of the fouling was reversible and could be removed via simple water cleaning process. We demonstrated in this work that the PECVD technique is a promising surface modification method that could be employed to rapidly improve membrane surface hydrophilicity (15 s) for the enhanced protein purification process without using any organic solvent during the plasma modification process. MDPI 2020 Article PeerReviewed Said, Noresah and Khoo, Ying Siew and Lau, Woei Jye and Gürsoy, Mehmet and Karaman, Mustafa and Ting, Teo Ming and Abouzari-Lotf, Ebrahim and Ismail, Ahmad Fauzi (2020) Rapid surface modification of ultrafiltration membranes for enhanced antifouling properties. Membranes, 10 (12). p. 401. ISSN 2077-0375 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/membranes10120401 |
| spellingShingle | TP Chemical technology Said, Noresah Khoo, Ying Siew Lau, Woei Jye Gürsoy, Mehmet Karaman, Mustafa Ting, Teo Ming Abouzari-Lotf, Ebrahim Ismail, Ahmad Fauzi Rapid surface modification of ultrafiltration membranes for enhanced antifouling properties |
| title | Rapid surface modification of ultrafiltration membranes for enhanced antifouling properties |
| title_full | Rapid surface modification of ultrafiltration membranes for enhanced antifouling properties |
| title_fullStr | Rapid surface modification of ultrafiltration membranes for enhanced antifouling properties |
| title_full_unstemmed | Rapid surface modification of ultrafiltration membranes for enhanced antifouling properties |
| title_short | Rapid surface modification of ultrafiltration membranes for enhanced antifouling properties |
| title_sort | rapid surface modification of ultrafiltration membranes for enhanced antifouling properties |
| topic | TP Chemical technology |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT saidnoresah rapidsurfacemodificationofultrafiltrationmembranesforenhancedantifoulingproperties AT khooyingsiew rapidsurfacemodificationofultrafiltrationmembranesforenhancedantifoulingproperties AT lauwoeijye rapidsurfacemodificationofultrafiltrationmembranesforenhancedantifoulingproperties AT gursoymehmet rapidsurfacemodificationofultrafiltrationmembranesforenhancedantifoulingproperties AT karamanmustafa rapidsurfacemodificationofultrafiltrationmembranesforenhancedantifoulingproperties AT tingteoming rapidsurfacemodificationofultrafiltrationmembranesforenhancedantifoulingproperties AT abouzarilotfebrahim rapidsurfacemodificationofultrafiltrationmembranesforenhancedantifoulingproperties AT ismailahmadfauzi rapidsurfacemodificationofultrafiltrationmembranesforenhancedantifoulingproperties |