Surface modification of polysulfone (PSf) surface, via acrylic acid (AA) surface graft polymerization, induced by atmospheric pressure Air plasma (Air APP) surface treatment, was explored for imparting UF membrane fouling resistance and tuning its performance. PSf surface activation with Air APP and subsequent tethering of PAA chains resulted in a higher degree of surface hydrophilicity relative to the use of He and He/O₂ plasmas. Surface-nano-structed (SNS) PSf membranes with tethered PAA chains were of increased surface hydrophilicity and the polar component of the surface energy by 14% and 556%, respectively, and had a greater negative zeta potential (by 26% at pH >∼6) relative to the native-PSf membrane. Fouling filtration tests with bovine serum albumin (BSA) and sodium alginate demonstrated reduced fouling resistance, relative to the native-PSf membrane. Moreover, complete permeability recovery of the fouled SNS-PAA-PSf membrane was achieved, via simple water backwash, relative to 66%-81% permeability recovery for the native PSf membrane. Tethering the PSf UF surface with PAA chains was also enabled tuning of the membrane molecular weight cutoff (MWCO) and hydraulic permeability. It was shown that starting with the same PSf UF membrane a series of SNS-PAA-PSf membranes can be synthesized whereby performance tuning was achieved over a MWCO range of 5.5–11 kDa and a corresponding permeability range of 12.7–23.5 L·m⁻²·h⁻¹·bar⁻¹. The present approach of PSf UF membrane surface structuring with tethered PAA chains, employing Air APP for surface activation, was shown to be effective for UF membrane fouling reduction and performance tuning. Thus, the present study results suggest that there is merit in exploring its scalability given the utilization of air as a low cost plasma source gas.

探索了通过由大气压空气等离子体（Air APP）表面处理诱导的丙烯酸（AA）表面接枝聚合对聚砜（PSf）表面进行表面改性，以赋予超滤膜抗污染性并调整其性能。_{与使用 He 和 He/O 2}相比，使用 Air APP 的 PSf 表面活化和随后的 PAA 链束缚导致更高程度的表面亲水性等离子。具有束缚 PAA 链的表面纳米结构 (SNS) PSf 膜的表面亲水性和表面能的极性分量分别增加了 14% 和 556%，并且具有更大的负 zeta 电位（在 pH > 时增加 26% ∼6) 相对于天然 PSf 膜。使用牛血清白蛋白 (BSA) 和海藻酸钠进行的污垢过滤测试表明，与天然 PSf 膜相比，污垢阻力降低。此外，通过简单的水反洗，污染的 SNS-PAA-PSf 膜的渗透率完全恢复，而原生 PSf 膜的渗透率恢复率为 66%-81%。用 PAA 链束缚 PSf UF 表面也可以调节膜的截留分子量（MWCO) 和水力渗透率。结果表明，从相同的 PSf UF 膜开始，可以合成一系列 SNS-PAA-PSf 膜，从而在 5.5-11 kDa 的MWCO范围和 12.7-23.5 L·m 的相应渗透率范围内实现性能调整^{- 2} ·h ^-1 ·bar ^-1。目前的 PSf UF 膜表面结构与束缚 PAA 链的方法，采用 Air APP 进行表面活化，被证明对 UF 膜污染减少和性能调整是有效的。因此，本研究结果表明，考虑到利用空气作为低成本等离子源气体，探索其可扩展性是有好处的。