Characterization of new membrane materials by means of fouling experiments: Adsorption of BSA on polytherimide-polyvinyl pyrrolidone membranes

The hydrophilicity of polyetherimide-polyvinylpyrrolidone (PEI-PVP) microfiltration membranes can be adjusted by means of a suitable post-treatment. The influence of the nature of the membrane surface on fouling properties was studied using permeation experiments before and after exposure to a protein (BSA) solution and adsorption experiments with 14C labelled BSA. A correlation between the permeation experiments and the radiolabelled BSA adsorption experiments was found. The PVP in the membrane matrix prevents BSA adsorption taking place to a large extent and it appeared that heat-treated PEI-PVP membranes showed the same nonfouling behaviour as, for example, cellulose acetate membranes