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Updated: Jun 27, 2026
Synthesis of Hydrogels with Antifouling Properties As Membranes for Water Purification
Published on: April 7, 2017
Multifunctional membranes for solvent resistant nanofiltration and pervaporation applications based on segmented
Xianfeng Li1, Malgorzata Basko, S Filip Du Prez
1Faculty of Bioengineering Sciences, Centre for Surface Chemistry and Catalysis, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 23, Box 2461, 3001 Leuven, Belgium.
Abstract:
Hydrophilic bis(acrylate)-terminated poly(ethylene oxide) was used as macromolecular cross-linker of different hydrophobic polyacrylates for the synthesis of amphiphilic segmented polymer networks (SPNs). Multifunctional composite membranes with thin SPN toplayers were prepared by in situ polymerization. As the support consisted of hydrolyzed polyacrylonitrile, the high chemical resistance of the composite membrane allowed applications of the SPN-based membranes in solvent-resistant nanofiltration (SRNF) and pervaporation (PV). The membranes show very high retention on Rose Bengal (RB) in different solvents, especially in strong swelling solvents such as tetrahydrofuran (THF) and dimethylformamide (DMF). The membranes were also tested in pervaporation for dehydration of ethanol and isopropanol (IPA). The selectivity of the membranes greatly depends on the composition or the ratio of the hydrophilic and hydrophobic phases of the SPN.
