Development of zwitterionic coatings that confer ultra anti-biofouling properties to commercial reverse osmosis membranes

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9598598-B2
Application number	US-201414324656-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 7, 2014
Priority date	Jul 7, 2014
Publication date	Mar 21, 2017
Grant date	Mar 21, 2017

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 composition, wherein the composition comprises a porous substrate and a coating material, wherein
the coating material comprises 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 composition of claim 1 , wherein the substrate comprises a polysulfone, a polyimide, or a polyamide.

3. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the substrate comprises a polyamide.

4. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the substrate is a membrane.

5. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the substrate is a reverse osmosis membrane.

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

7. The composition of claim 1 , 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.

8. The composition of claim 1 , 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.

9. The composition of claim 1 , 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.

10. The composition of claim 1 , 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.

11. An article comprising a composition of claim 1 , wherein the article is incorporated into a water desalination device.

12. A method for treating water comprising
passing an aqueous solution through an article comprising a composition of claim 9 , wherein said aqueous solution comprises water and a first quantity of a substance, thereby producing a second aqueous solution;
the second aqueous solution comprises water and a second quantity of the substance; and the second quantity is substantially lower than first quantity.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the substance is salt.

14. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the polymer further comprises a plurality of third repeat units; and the third repeat unit is

15. The composition of claim 14 , wherein the number ratio of first repeat units to third repeat units is about 9:1.

16. The composition of claim 1 , wherein R is H.

17. The composition of claim 1 , wherein Y is alkylene.

18. The composition of claim 1 , wherein Y is 1,2-ethylene.

19. The composition of claim 1 , wherein X is —COO ⊖ .

20. The composition of claim 1 , wherein m is 1.

Assignees

• Massachusetts Inst Technology
• Univ King Fahd Pet & Minerals
• Univ King Fahd Pet & Minerals

Inventors

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

Classifications

• B01D71/68

  Polysulfones; Polyethersulfones · CPC title

• C09D5/1637

  Macromolecular compounds · CPC title

• B01D2325/18

  Membrane materials having mixed charged functional groups · CPC title

• C08F226/10

  N-Vinyl-pyrrolidone · CPC title

• B01D71/56

  Polyamides, e.g. polyester-amides · CPC title