Construction of microgels embedded robust ultrafiltration membranes for highly effective bioadhesion resistance

Effective and robust anti-bioadhesion ultrafiltration membranes were fabricated in this paper via physically blending of anti-bioadhesion microgels. The microgels were synthesized by one-step cross-linking of antifouling segment, poly(ethylene glycol) methacrylate (PEGMA), and electrostatic repulsion segment, methylacrylic acid (MAA). Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results indicated that large amounts of PEGMA and MAA polymers had been enriched on the membranes surface. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) indicated that the spherical PEGMA-MAA (PM) microgels might form interpenetrating structure with the membrane matrixes, and substantially increased the pore size of the membranes. Water contact angle (WCA), pore size distributions and ultrafiltration tests suggested that the hydrophilicity, porosity, water flux, and antifouling property for the modified membranes were significantly enhanced. More importantly, systematic anti-adhesion investigations of plasma proteins, platelets, bacteria and vein endothelial cells confirmed that the modified membranes owned strong resistance capability to the bioadhesion of various organisms. The results revealed that highly robust and effective anti-bioadhesion ultrafiltration membranes could be prepared via the proposed blending of PM microgels with membrane matrix, thus this approach should be potential in various biomedical or industrial filtration fields where anti-bioadhesion properties were highly demanded.