Recently, the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering has published the latest research article in AIChE Journal, the top journal in the field of chemical engineering, entitled ‘A functionalized zwitterionic PAN fiber membrane with enhanced antifouling for stable emulsion separation’. Jiangsu University is the first completion unit of the article, and PhD student Hao Chen is the first author, while Professor Fengxian Qiu, Associate Professor Dongya Yang, and Associate Researcher Tao Zhang are the co-corresponding authors of the article.

This work focuses on membrane contamination during the emulsion separation process and innovatively proposes an internal and external modification strategy to construct a functionalized polyacrylonitrile (PAN) fiber membrane with dual antifouling properties. The amphiphilic ionic polymer of SBMA was grafted onto PAN molecular chains by a free-radical polymerization reaction, preparing an amphiphilic ionic-modified PAN fiber membrane by electrostatic spinning (internal modification) to enhance the hydration capacity of the membrane matrix. The stable hydration layer and the charge balance on the membrane surface are able to resist the surface adsorption of oil contaminants, creating a “contaminant resistance” effect. Afterwards, the low surface energy microregions were deconstructed by partially grafting the fluorocarbon compounds of PFH (external modification) to reduce the surface adhesion of oil contaminants in the aquatic environment, giving membrane materials “contaminant release” properties. The prepared membrane exhibits excellent wetting characteristics of superhydrophilicity, underwater ultra-low oil adhesion, and outstanding wetting stability in complex liquid environments. More importantly, the dual antifouling characteristics further strengthen the fouling resistance of membrane materials and significantly enhance the emulsion separation performance, with separation flux in excess of 2000 L·m⁻²·h⁻¹ and separation efficiency of 99.1 %. The stable wetting properties and strengthened antifouling capacity endow the membrane with favorable membrane regeneration properties, allowing it to be recycled more than 20 times.

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This work was financially supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China and Natural Science Foundation of Yangzhou.

Paper link: https://doi.org/10.1002/aic.18791