We designed a series of polymers as antifouling coating materials containing hydrophilic moiety such as polyethylene glycol (PEG) and mussel-inspired dopamine and/or hydrophobic moiety such as polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) and plant-based cardanol moiety. We changed the molar composition of the hydrophilic and hydrophobic moieties in the copolymers and polymer shape (star- vs. linear-shaped polymer) and polymer morphology (block- vs. random copolymer) in order to compare fouling behaviors. These polymer coated membranes exhibited noticeably higher fouling resistance than the bare polysulfone (PSf) ultrafiltration membrane during filtration experiments. We believe that our results will provide insight into the synthesis and fabrication of multi-functional membranes for water treatment applications.

• 강효(동아대학교 화학공학과) | Hyo Kang