Anti-fouling and protein separation of PVDF-g-PMAA@MnO2 filtration membrane with in-situ grown MnO2 nanorods

MnO2 nanorods with controllable scale were grown in the PVDF-g-PMAA modified membrane to form PVDF-gPMAA@ MnO2 membrane through the in situ redox reaction of KMnO4 solution, which is confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray energy-dispersion spectroscopy (EDX). The pore size of the membrane decreased with the increase of KMnO4 solution concentration. The thermodynamic stability and the hydrophilicity of the membrane were also enhanced by the MnO2 nanorods. The water flux, bovine serum albumin (BSA)/ Lysozyme protein solution flux and rejection, flux recovery, etc. showed effective improvement of the antifouling performance of the PVDF-g-PMAA@ MnO2 membrane. More importantly, it can effectively separate BSA from lysozyme, which provided a potential application in the field of biology, food, and other industrial fields for the requirement of separation and purification.

Automated summary

The PVDF-g-PMAA@ MnO2 membrane was formed by growing MnO2 nanorods with controllable scale through in situ redox reaction, enhancing thermodynamic stability and hydrophilicity, effectively improving antifouling performance, and successfully separating BSA from lysozyme for potential applications.