Development of a hydrophilic PES ultrafiltration membrane containing SiO2@N-Halamine nanoparticles with both organic antifouling and antibacterial properties

SiO2@N-Halamine/polyethersulfone (PES) ultrafiltration membranes were prepared by phase inversion method. The morphology, hydrophilicity, permeation performance, porosity, antifouling and antibacterial properties of the membrane were investigated. FT-IR spectra, TEM and XPS spectra results showed that SiO2 nanoparticles were prepared and modified successfully. SEM images indicated that the cross-section morphology of membrane was influenced by the introduction of SiO2@N-Halamine. The surface hydrophilicity of membranes was significantly improved after adding SiO2@N-Halamine. The filtration results indicated that the permeation properties of the hybrid membranes were significantly superior to the pure PES membrane. The water flux of the hybrid membranes increased with the additional amount of SiO2@N-Halamine increased, when the SiO2@N-Halamine content was 5%, the water flux of the membranes reached the maximum at 384.4 L·m− 2·h− 1. Moreover, the hybrid membranes showed good antifouling and antibacterial properties, which might expand the usage of PES in water treatment and also could make some potential contributions to membrane antifouling.