A facile Way to Tune Wettability of Hydrophobic PTFE Membranes

Abstract

Currently, membrane-based separation processes have been extensively applied to wastewater treatment owing to high effluent quality and reliable separation performance. In partcular, membrane bioreactor (MBR) has attractd much attention owing to many benefits over the conventional activated sludge process. Here we show a facile surface modification technique changing from hydrophobic to hydrophilic membrane surface using a bioinspired material-polydopamine. Promisingly this modification technique makes any polymer membrane surfaces changed only by dipping the membranes in dopamine aqueous solution; the polymerization triggered by specific pH conditions and dissolved oxygen in water. All hydrophobic polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membrane surfaces were readily modified to hydrophilic, leading to well-wetted properties and excellent antifouling properties in MBR operation conditions.