Fouling resistance study of poly (ether sulfone) ultrafiltration membrane which in-situ polymerized with polydopamine

This works focuses on the fouling resistance evaluation of polydopamine-blended poly (ether sulfone) (PES) ultrafiltration membrane for water treatment application. The supporting PES membrane was prepared via a common phase inversion method. The dopamine was introduced to the membrane by blending technique and the modification occurred by in-situ polymerization of dopamine into polydopamine which triggered by peroxide. The antifouling performances were studied in terms of flux recovery, reversible fouling, irreversible fouling, and total fouling. The relevant characteristics of the membranes such as surface porosity, chemical composition, water permeation, and solute rejection were also provided to support the analysis of antifouling performances. The results revealed that the presence of polydopamine in the membrane system significantly enhanced the fouling resistance of the polydopamine-blended PES membrane. The hydrophilic component in polydopamine reduced the interaction of membrane with foulant thus lowered the total fouling of only 18.92% with 13.50% reversible fouling and 5.42% irreversible fouling for modified membrane. In addition, the polydopamine-modified membrane successfully recovered up to 95% of the flux after backwashing, much higher than that of original PES which was only 67%.