Polyethersulfone Block Copolymers for Membrane Applications

Polyarylethersulfones (polysulfone: PSU, polyethersulfone: PESU) belong to the group of established membrane materials and are mainly used for production of ultra- and microfiltration membranes. They offer several advantageous properties like hydrolysis and chemical resistance, mechanical strength and bio-compatibility. A general drawback of these polymers compared to the more polar membrane materials cellulosetriacetate or polyacrylonitrile is the hydrophobic nature of the polyarylethersulfone which can be quantified by the contact angle versus water. An improved synthetic pathway to segmented block copolymers based on polyarylethersulfones and various aliphatic polyethers is presented as well as the characterization of the obtained block copolymers and their use for membrane preparation.