Preparation and characterization of antifouling poly(vinyl chloride-co-poly(ethylene glycol)methyl ether methacrylate) membranes

Two series of antifouling microfiltration membranes (MF) with different pure water permeabilities were fabricated using poly(vinyl chloride-co-poly(ethylene glycol)methyl ether methacrylate) (poly(VC-co-PEGMA)) copolymers with different PEGMA segment percentage via nonsolvent-induced phase separation (NIPS) method. Membranes with similar water permeability were obtained for each series by changing the dope solution composition, because the water permeability can affect the membrane fouling property. Bovine serum albumin (BSA) adsorption on copolymer films decreased and membrane surface pore size, hydrophilicity, and antifouling properties increased by increasing the PEGMA segment percentage. BSA filtration results revealed that the hydrophilicity of the membrane and the initial water flux more strongly affected the fouling propensity than the membrane surface pore size. Molecular dynamics simulation was carried out to investigate the state of the PEGMA on the membrane surface for clarifying the fouling mechanism.