A wide variety of biocidal nanomaterials have been tethered on polymeric membrane surfaces, imparting antimicrobial and anti-fouling performance. Nevertheless, existing modification approaches suffer from low material efficiency, long processing time/tedious processes, and/or no precise control of nanomaterial distribution/location. Herein, we demonstrate a single-step scalable membrane surface nanoengineering approach whereby electrosprayed minute droplets containing silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs), polysulfone (PSF), and N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) are uniformly deposited on a polyethersulfone (PES) membrane surface. Delicate solvent bonding reactions between the two interfaced polymers (i.e., interdiffusion and subsequent entanglement) are initiated to stabilize the deposited particles, which breaks the limitation of anchor sites and achieves high-coverage functionalization within minutes. Factors affecting the electrospray deposition and polymeric solvent bonding reactions are systematically investigated. The nano-Ag loading rate reaches 0.66 µg cm-2 min-1, with a material efficiency of up to 92%, superior to those via conventional approaches. The PSF microbeads, as cargos of Ag NPs, remain ultra-stable even when the membrane becomes fractured under strong sonication. The introduction of the discontinuous Ag-PSF layer slightly increases rejection of certain solutes and markedly enhances antimicrobial and anti-biofouling properties. This straightforward approach acts as a technical platform for additive manufacturing of novel nanocomposite membranes with diverse structures and multiple functions. Further, its scalability using multi-jet electrospray systems sheds light on its potential commercial applications in advancing water treatment and industrial separation membranes.

One-step scalable surface nanoengineering of filtration membranes via polymeric solvent bonding-assisted incorporation of biocidal nanomaterials

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ACS Fall 2022

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