Preparation of Cu₂O nanowire-blended polysulfone ultrafiltration membrane with improved stability and antimicrobial activity

Polysulfone (PSF) membranes have been widely applied in water and wastewater treatment, food-processing and biomedical fields. In this study, we report the preparation of modified PSF membranes by blending PSF with Cu₂O nanowires (NWs) to improve their stability and antifouling activity. Synthesis of novel Cu₂O NWs/PSF-blended ultrafiltration membrane was achieved via phase inversion method by dispersing one-dimensional Cu₂O nanowires in PSF casting solutions. Various techniques such as XRD, SEM, TEM, and EDS were applied to characterize and investigate the properties of nanowires and membranes. The introduced Cu₂O nanowires can firmly be restricted into micropores of PSF membranes, and therefore, they can effectively prevent the serious leaking problem of inorganic substances in separation process. The blended PSF membranes also provided enhanced antimicrobial activity and superior permeation property compared to pure PSF membrane. The overall work can not only provide a new way for preparation of novel blended membranes with multidimensional nanomaterials, but can also be beneficial to solve the annoying problem of biofouling.