Synthesis of polymerisable bicontinuous microemulsion membranes for water treatment application

Novel polymeric membranes have been obtained by bicontinuous microemulsion polymerisation (PBM), which is an innovative approach to produce nanostructured porous membranes. The purpose of the study was to produce a hydrophilic, antifouling and antimicrobial membrane through the polymerisation of polymerisable bicontinuous microemulsions (PBM), and to provide a technological breakthrough in the field of water treatment. The bicontinuous microemulsion was prepared by using the polymerisable surfactant acryloyloxyundecyltriethylammonium bromide (AUTEAB), synthesised in our laboratories in the course of the project. The polymerised microemulsion was then applied as coating material on polyether sulfone (PES) commercial membranes. The newly-developed PBM membranes were applied in Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) technology for textile wastewater treatment, and presented several advantages in comparison to uncoated commercial membranes, such as constant water permeability in time, good quality of the filtrate by rejection of organic compounds, modest oxygen consumption, an increase in the efficiency and durability of the membranes and a significant reduced use of cleaning agents [1]. [1] A. Figoli, J. Hoinkis, B. Gabriele, G. De Luca, F. Galiano, S. A. Deowan, "Bicontinuous microemulsion polymerized coating for water treatment", Patent Application Number IT GE2013A000096 (September 27, 2013) Acknowledgment The work was funded by BioNexGen (grant agreement no. CP-FP-246039-2) EU-FP7/project