Construction of CS-SDAEM long-chain polysaccharide derivative on TA@CNTs coated PVDF membrane with effective oil-water emulsion purification and low contamination rate

Currently, the most effective way to improve the anti-fouling performance of water treatment separation membrane is to enhance the hydrophilicity of the membrane surface, but it can still cause contamination, leading to the occurrence of flux reduction. The construction of a strong hydration layer to resist wastewater contamination is still a challenging task. In this study, a defect-free hydration layer barrier was achieved by grafting chitosan polysaccharide derivatives (CS-SDAEM) on the membrane, which achieved in effective fouling prevention and low flux decline rate. A layer of tannic acid-coated carbon nanotubes (TA@CNTs) has been uniformly deposited on the commercial PVDF membrane so that the surface was rich in -COOH groups, providing sufficient reaction sites. These reactive groups facilitate the grafting of amphiphilic polymers onto the membrane. This modification strategy achieved in enhancing the antifouling performance. The modified membrane achieved low contamination rate with DR of 16.9 % for wastewater filtration, and the flux recovery rate was above 95 % with PWF of 1100 (L·m −2 ·h −1 ). The membrane had excellent anti-fouling performance, which provided a new route for the future development of water treatment membrane.