Abstract：
Fouling-resistant surfaces are needed for various environmental applications. Inspired by superhydrophilic N-oxide-based osmolytes in saltwater fish, we demonstrate the use of a trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) analogue for constructing fouling-resistant surfaces. The readily synthesized N-oxide monomer of methacrylamide is grafted to filtration membrane surfaces by surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (SI-ATRP). Successful grafting of the amine N-oxide brush layer as confirmed by material characterization endows the surface with increased hydrophilicity, reduced charge, and decreased roughness. Notably, the introduction of the N-oxide layer does not compromise transport properties, i.e., water permeability and water-salt selectivity. Moreover, the modified membrane exhibits improved antifouling properties with a lower flux decline (32.1%) and greater fouling reversibility (18.55%) than the control sample (45.4% flux decline and 3.26% fouling reversibility). We further evaluate foulant-membrane interaction using surface plasmon resonance (SPR) to relate the reduced fouling tendency to the synergic effects of surface characteristic changes after amine N-oxide modification. Our results demonstrate the promise and potential of the N-oxide-based polymer brushes for the design of fouling resistance surfaces for a variety of emerging environmental applications.
摘要：
对于各种环境应用需要抗污染表面。受咸水鱼中基于N-氧化物的超亲水渗透物质的启发，我们证明了使用三甲胺N-氧化物（TMAO）类似物来构造防污表面。通过表面引发的原子转移自由基聚合（SI-ATRP）将容易合成的甲基丙烯酰胺的N-氧化物单体接枝到滤膜表面。通过材料表征确认的胺N-氧化物刷层的成功接枝赋予表面增加的亲水性。减少电荷，粗糙度降低。值得注意的是,N-氧化物层的引入不会损害传输性能，即，水渗透性和水盐选择性。此外，与对照样品(45.4%的通量下降和3.26%的结垢可逆性)相比,改性膜表现出改进的抗污染性能,具有更低的通量下降(32.1%)和更大的结垢可逆性(18.55%)。我们使用表面等离子体共振（SPR）进一步评估了污垢-膜的相互作用，以将减少的污垢趋势与胺N-氧化物改性后表面特征变化的协同作用联系起来。我们的结果证明了N-氧化物基聚合物刷在各种新兴环境应用中设计防污表面的前景和潜力。
