Development of Zwitterionic Coatings that Confer Ultra Anti-Biofouling Properties to Commercial Reverse Osmosis Membranes

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016002489-A1
Application number	US-201414324656-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jul 7, 2014
Priority date	Jul 7, 2014
Publication date	Jan 7, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

Disclosed are methods of preparing antifouling coatings on reverse osmosis membranes with initiated chemical vapor deposition. The coatings enhance the stability and lifetime of membranes without sacrificing performance characteristics, such as permeability or salt retention.

First claim

We claim:

1 . A polymer, comprising a plurality of first repeat units, and a plurality of second repeat units; wherein
the first repeat unit is

wherein, independently for each occurrence,
R is H, alkyl, halo, hydroxy, amino, nitro, or cyano;
Y is a linker that does not comprise an amide bond, an ester bond, or an ether bond; and
X ⊖ is —SO 3 ⊖ or —COO ⊖ ;
the second repeat unit is

wherein, independently for each occurrence,
R is H, alkyl, halo, hydroxy, amino, nitro, or cyano;
Z is

and
m is 1-10, inclusive.

2 . The polymer of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of third repeat units; wherein the third repeat unit is

3 . The polymer of claim 1 , wherein R is H.

4 . The polymer of claim 1 , wherein Y is alkylene.

5 . The polymer of claim 1 , wherein Y is 1,2-ethylene.

6 . The polymer of claim 1 , wherein X is —COO ⊖ .

7 . The polymer of claim 1 , wherein m is 1.

8 . The polymer of claim 2 , wherein the number ratio of first repeat units to third repeat units is about 9:1.

9 . A composition, wherein the composition comprises a substrate and a coating material, wherein the coating material comprises a polymer of claim 1 .

10 . The composition of claim 9 , wherein the substrate comprises a polysulfone, a polyimide, or a polyamide.

11 . The composition of claim 9 , wherein the substrate comprises a polyamide.

12 . The composition of claim 9 , wherein the substrate is a membrane.

13 . The composition of claim 9 , wherein the substrate is an RO membrane.

14 . The composition of claim 9 , wherein the static contact angle is from about 20° to about 50° at about 25° C. and about 1 atm.

15 . The composition of claim 9 , wherein, upon exposure to a biomolecule, an area of the composition adsorbs less than about 80%, less than about 70%, less than about 60%, less than about 50%, less than about 40%, less than about 30%, less than about 20%, or less than about 10% by mass of the biomolecule, as compared to the mass of the biomolecule adsorbed by the same area of the substrate alone, without the coating material, under identical conditions.

16 . The composition of claim 9 , wherein, upon exposure to a quantity of an organism, an area of the composition adsorbs less than about 50%, less than about 40%, less than about 30%, less than about 20%, less than about 10%, less than about 5%, less than about 4%, less than about 3%, less than about 2%, or less than about 1% by number of the organism, as compared to the number of organisms adsorbed by the same area of the substrate alone, without the coating material, under identical conditions.

17 . The composition of claim 9 , wherein the permeability of the composition is about 50%, about 55%, about 60%, about 65%, about 70%, about 75%, about 80%, about 85%, about 90%, about 95%, or about 99% of the permeability of the substrate alone, without the coating material, under identical conditions.

18 . The composition of claim 9 , wherein, upon exposure to a feed solution comprising a quantity of salt, the composition rejects about 70%, about 75%, about 80%, about 85%, about 90%, about 91%, about 92%, about 93%, about 94%, about 95%, about 96%, about 97%, about 98%, or about 99% of the salt in the feed solution.

19 . An article comprising a composition of claim 9 , wherein the article is incorporated into a water desalination device.

20 . A method comprising
contacting, at a first flow rate, a first sample of water with a composition of claim 9 , thereby producing a second sample of water, wherein the first sample of water comprises a first concentration or first quantity of a substance; the second sample of water comprises a second concentration or second quantity of the substance; and the second concentration or second quantity is substantially lower than the first concentration or first quantity.

21 . The method of claim 20 , wherein the substance is salt.

22 . A method of coating a surface of a substrate, comprising the steps of:
providing a substrate; exposing a surface of the substrate to plasma for a first period of time at a first pressure, thereby producing a conditioned surface of the substrate; contacting the conditioned surface of the substrate with a polymer comprising a second repeat unit and a third repeat unit, wherein the second repeat unit is

the third repeat unit is

R is H, alkyl, halo, hydroxy, amino, nitro, or cyano; Z is

and m is 1-10, inclusive, thereby producing a pyridine-coated substrate.

23 . The method of claim 22 , further comprising the step of: contacting the pyridine-coated substrate with a zwitterionic precursor.

24 . The method of claim 23 , wherein the zwitterionic precursor is 3-bromopropionic acid,

and n is 1, 2, or 3.

Assignees

• Massachusetts Inst Technology
• Univ King Fahd Pet & Minerals

Inventors

• Gleason Karen K
• Khan Zafarullah
• Shafi Hafiz Zahid
• Yang Rong

Classifications

• B01D61/025

  Reverse osmosis; Hyperfiltration · CPC title

• B01D67/0088

  Physical treatment with compounds, e.g. swelling, coating or impregnation · CPC title

• C09D5/1637

  Macromolecular compounds · CPC title

• B01D2325/18

  Membrane materials having mixed charged functional groups · CPC title

• B01D71/62

  Polycondensates having nitrogen-containing heterocyclic rings in the main chain · CPC title