Bio-inspired fabrication of highly permeable and anti-fouling ultrafiltration membranes based on bacterial cellulose for efficient removal of soluble dyes and insoluble oils

• DOI: 10.1016/j.memsci.2020.118982
• Publication Date: 2020-12-17T01:26:42Z
• Authors: Ying Hu; Min Yue; Fanshu Yuan; Luyu Yang; Chuntao Chen; Dongping Sun
• Keywords: Ultrafiltration (renal); Regenerated cellulose; Filtration (mathematics); Membrane Fouling; Superhydrophilicity

Abstract Ultrafiltration (UF) has been broadly applied for the supply of drinking water to achieve the interception of various organic, inorganic and biological pollutants. However, fouling is a ubiquitous problem when the filter is working. Thus, the development of high-performance ultrafiltration membrane with great separation abilities and anti-fouling properties is of particular importance in water treatment. In this work, we find a feasible way to use the mussel-inspired dopamine (DA) to modify the 3D web-like skeleton of bacterial cellulose (BC) in liquid phase, integrating with 2D graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets to fabricate a robust anti-fouling ultrafiltration membrane. The as formed bacterial cellulose/polydopamine/reduced graphene oxide (BC/PDA/RGO) composites showed unique superhydrophilicity and underwater superoleophobicity. For pure water flux test, the membrane exhibited high permeability of 1149.3 L m−2 h−1 under 0.1 MPa. For dyes and oils rejection experiment, the membrane revealed extraordinary contaminants resistance performances. More importantly, during cycling measurement, the membrane manifested superior anti-fouling capability and a high permeate flux recovery ratio (~96.9%) for long-term filtration processes. Therefore, this novel BC/PDA/RGO ultrafiltration membrane is expected as a promising candidate for water purification.