Low fouling negatively charged hybrid ultrafiltration membranes for protein separation from sulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone) block copolymer and functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes

• Ultrafiltration membrane properties improved by small fraction of carbon nanotubes as additive.
• Efficient protein separation based on combined size and charge effects.
• High stability and tailored functionality by block copolymer-based blend as membrane material.

Low fouling negatively charged hybrid ultrafiltration membranes with adjustable charge density were fabricated from blends of poly(arylene ether sulfone) (PAES) block copolymer and the sulfonated copolymer (S-PAES) in combination with different fractions of sulfonic acid functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT-SO3H) by non-solvent induced phase separation method. Porous hybrid membrane morphologies, structure and surface properties were characterized comprehensively using scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy in the attenuated total reflection mode, as well as contact angle and zeta potential measurements. Results confirmed that the fabricated membranes were hydrophilic and negatively charged in the studied pH range 3–10. The water permeabilities and increased protein fouling resistances of the membranes were dependent on the fraction of MWCNT-SO3H in the membranes. The protein transmission as function of pH value and fraction of MWCNT-SO3H was studied for two model proteins (bovine serum albumin and myoglobin) and found to be controlled by size exclusion and the content of MWCNT-SO3H. The highest transmission of proteins at their isoelectric points was obtained for the membrane containing 2 wt% of MWCNT-SO3H relative to total membrane polymer. The selectivity of the hybrid membranes for the separation of the binary protein mixture could be systematically increased by increasing surface charge density by increasing fraction of MWCNT-SO3H. Consequently, the trade-off relationship between permeability and selectivity for conventional ultrafiltration membranes where separation is based on size exclusion solely could be overcome and performance be tuned by a small fraction of a functional additive.