Abstract
Many challenges remain to be overcome in order to improve membrane technologies in the field of water treatment. The membrane fouling justifies the use of cleaning techniques that are harmful to the environment and impact the lifetime of the membrane materials. Inspired by the mechanisms involved in biological systems, this project aims to develop new functional and autonomous membranes. In this work, functionalized poly(methacrylic acid) (PMAA) was prepared by RAFT polymerization and grafted to the interface of a commercial alumina membrane. Mounted in a filtration cell, the PMAA functionalized membrane was synchronized with a pH oscillator (Bromate-Sulfite-Ferrocyanide: BSF). When the flow through the membrane reaches the pH oscillation domain, pulsatile flow with impressive permeability cycles has been observed. The BSF pH oscillator causes a cyclical change in pH between 3.5 and 6.5 in the filter cell. Since PMAA has a pKa of about 4.8, a cyclic extension-contraction of the polymer chains is obtained and leads to a synchronized change in the size of the pores. This type of system has as a direct consequence, which is the oscillatory modulation of the permeability of the membrane. In addition, the objective is to adapt this system to membranes based on polymers with intrinsic microporosity that exhibit good mechanical, thermal and chemical resistance properties.