Effect of protein on PVDF ultrafiltration membrane fouling behavior under different pH conditions： interface adhesion force and XDLVO theory analysis

• Published in: Frontiers of environmental science & engineering 2016-08, Vol.10 (4), p.157-167, Article 12
• Main Authors: WANG, Xudong, ZHOU, Miao, MENG, Xiaorong, WANG, Lei, HUANG, Danxi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adhesion; Adhesion force; Antifouling substances; Atomic force microscopy; Bovine serum albumin; DLVO理论; Earth and Environmental Science; Environment; Fouling; Free energy; Hydrophilicity; Interfacial free energy; Lewis acid; Membrane fouling; Membrane processes; Membrane proteins; Membranes; pH effects; pH值; Protein; PVDF; PVDF membrane; Research Article; Serum albumin; Ultrafiltration; 污染行为; 牛血清白蛋白; 界面自由能; 粘附力; 超滤膜
• ISSN: 2095-2201; 2095-221X
• DOI: 10.1007/s11783-016-0855-9

To further detem3ine the fouling behavior of bovine serum albumin （BSA） on different hydrophilic PVDF ultrafiltration （UF） membranes over a range of pH values, self-made atomic force microscopy （AFM） colloidal probes were used to detect the adhesion forces of membrane-BSA and BSA BSA, respectively. Results showed that the membrane-BSA adhesion interaction was stronger than the BSA-BSA adhesion interaction, and the adhesion force between BSA-BSA-fouled PVDF/PVA membranes was similar to that between BSA-BSA-fouled PVDF/PVP membranes, which indicated that the fouling was mainly caused by the adhesion interaction between membrane and BSA. At the same pH condition, the PVDF/PVA membrane-BSA adhesion force was smaller than that of PVDF/ PVP membrane-BSA, which illustrated that the more hydrophilic the membrane was, the better antifouling ability it had. The extended Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey Overbeek （XDLVO） theory predicts that the polar or Lewis acid-base （AB） interaction played a dominant role in the interracial free energy ofmcmbrane-BSA and BSA BSA that can be affected by pH. For the same membrane, the pH values of a BSA solution can have a significant impact on the process of membrane fouling by changing the AB component of free energy.