Advanced ultrafiltration membranes by leveraging microphase separation in macrophase separation of amphiphilic polysulfone block copolymers

Water-soluble polymers are generally required in the process of nonsolvent-induced phase separation (NIPS) as additives or modifiers to enhance the hydrophilicity and permeability of ultrafiltration membranes. In this work, we demonstrate that amphiphilic block copolymers, polysulfone-block-poly (ethyleneglycol) (PSf-b-PEG), dissolved alone in solvents without any additives lead to highly permeable, fouling-resistant membranes via the NIPS process. PEG blocks deliver dual functions in the membranes. Selective enrichment of PEG blocks on the membrane surface as a result of surface segregation enhances the hydrophilicity and consequently fouling resistance of the membranes. Moreover, microscale phase separation of the block copolymers drives the formation of interconnected PEG microdomains distributed throughout the bulk membrane as confirmed by the transmission electron microscopy analysis on stained membrane slices. PEG microdomains serve as water channels facilitating water transport through the membrane. As a result, thus produced membranes exhibit excellent permeability a few times higher than other PSf-based ultrafiltration membranes with similar retentions. For instance, a membrane having the molecular weight cut-off of 70 kDa gives a water permeability as high as 450 m⁻²h⁻¹bar⁻¹. Furthermore, the retentions of the PSf-b-PEG membranes can be tuned in a relatively wide range simply by adjusting the copolymer concentration in the casting solutions. Using amphiphilic block copolymers alone as the base materials for the preparation of ultrafiltration membranes by NIPS not only simplifies membrane manufacturing process but also opens a new avenue to prepare advanced membranes with upgraded permeability and fouling resistance.