Abstract
A potentially low fouling membrane was developed by attaching a stimuli-responsive polymer layer on the surface, which offered the potential to collapse or expand the polymer layer with change in temperature. The phase change arose from the existence of a lower critical solution temperature (LCST) such that the polymer precipitated from solution as the temperature was increased. This capability was exploited to control adsorption/desorption on a cellulose acetate membrane. A temperature decrease caused the layer to expand into a rough hydrophilic state while a temperature increase caused a collapse into a smooth hydrophobic state. By cycling the temperature of the modified membrane above and below the LCST, a dynamic surface was created with the potential to reduced fouling.I n this study, N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAM) was used as the temperature-responsive polymer; it has an LCST of 32. °C, and was grafted to a cellulose acetate ultrafiltration membrane surface using cerium ammonium nitrate as an initiator. While surface activation was observed at the nano-scale level, no improvements in fouling control were observed during operation.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 272-279 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Journal of Membrane Science |
| Volume | 383 |
| Issue number | 1-2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Nov 1 2011 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The sources of funding were NSF CBET 0610624 and NSF GK-12 Graduate Teaching Fellows in STEM High School Education: An Environmental Science Learning Community at the Land-Lake Ecosystem Interface, DGE-0742395. The authors would also like to acknowledge the contributions of Drs. Glenn Lipscomb (for initial development), Maria Coleman and Cyndee Gruden. Special thanks also go to Martin Geithmann.
Keywords
- Cellulose acetate
- N-isopropylacrylamide
- Ultrafiltration
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Biochemistry
- Materials Science (all)
- Physical and Theoretical Chemistry
- Filtration and Separation