Polyethersulfone Ultrafiltration Membranes Containing Surface Treated Silica Nanoparticles for Improvement of Antibacterial Activity and Hydrophilicity

To overcome drawbacks of polyethersulfone (PES) ultrafiltration membranes such as hydrophobicity and bacteria growth on the membrane surface, PES membranes containing silica nanoparticles grafted with poly(1-vinylpyrrolidone) (silica-PVP) and those garfted with poly(sulfadiazine acrylamide) (silica-PSA) were fabricated. PES membranes containing silica-PVP exhibited better water flux than PES membrane, and the solute rejection of the former was similar with that of the latter when PES membrane contains less than or equal to 3 wt% of silica-PVP. PES membranes exhibiting antibacterial activity and improved water flux were fabricated by adding more than 3 wt% of silica-PSA.