Abstract
Fouling resistance of various kinds of membrane materials including blends of poly(vinylidene difluoride) (PVDF) and copolymer of methyl methacrylate (MMA) and poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate (PVDF/PMMA-g-PEO) was quantitatively evaluated by measuring the amount of model fouling compounds adsorbed on the surface of membrane materials using a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor. The order of the amount of adsorption in the adsorption tests negatively correlated with hydrophilicities of membrane materials. PVDF/PMMA-g-PEO demonstrated superior fouling resistance comparing to pure PVDF and other materials. Pure PVDF and PVDF/PMMA-g-PEO membranes with different length of PEO side chains were fabricated in non-solvent induced phase separation (NIPS) method. Membrane structure and surface composition were analyzed with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray photoelectoron spectroscopy (XPS) respectively. Moreover, short-term and long-term activated sludge filtration experiments were conducted. The rate of increase of differential pressure during filtration process correlated with the amount of adsorbed BSA in the adsorption tests.
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