(424d) Surface Modification of Polyethylene Hollow Fiber Membrane by the Grafting of 2-Hydroxyethyl Methacrylate

Surface modification of polyethylene (PE) hollow fiber microporous membrane was performed by the grafting of 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) via corona treatment in order to improve the membrane hydrophilicity. Structural and morphological changes on the membrane surface were characterized by attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR/FT-IR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Moreover, the relationship of the pure water fluxes and grafting degree of HEMA on the membrane surface was also studied. The results of ATR/FT-IR indicated the successful graft polymerization of HEMA onto the membrane surface. The grafting degree of HEMA could be modulated through the corona treatment time and monomer concentration. The pure water flux increased with the increase of grafting degree. The modified PE hollow fiber membrane possessed better properties due to the improvement of the surface hydrophilicity by the grafting of HEMA.