Quantitative evaluation of fouling resistance of PVDF/PMMA-g-PEO polymer blend membranes for membrane bioreactor

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.