Surface glycosylation of polysulfone membrane towards a novel complexing membrane for boron removal

► A glycopolymer was tethered onto polysulfone membrane for boron removal. ► Adsorption capacity as high as 2 mmol/g can be reached within 2 h. ► The adsorption isotherm is best described by Langmuir model. ► The kinetic data fit well to the pseudo-second-order rate expression. ► The optimized condition is pH of 6-9 and initial concentration of over 300 mg/L.