Solvent‐resistant nanofiltration membranes based on multilayered polyelectrolytes deposited on silicon composite

Alternating deposition of oppositely charged polyelectrolyte complexes (PECs) on inorganic–organic composite membranes can efficiently overcome the drawback of microcracks induced by inorganic particles. Different bilayers of Poly (diallyldimethylammonium, chloride)/sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) (PDDA/SPEEK) were first deposited on the charged silicon composite with hydrolyzed polyacrylonitrile (PAN‐H) support and evaluated for solvent resistant nanofiltration membranes (SRNF) application. The morphology of the membranes was studied in detail via SEM and AFM. Because of Donnan exclusion, the multilayered PEC silicon composite membranes showed very high retentions up to 99% for negatively charged solutes (Rose Bengal (RB), 1017 Da) in the pressure driven filtration of isopropanol (IPA) solutions. For the first time, PEC‐based silicon composite membranes were also applied in the filtration of organic solvents, where they were found to combine a remarkable stability in polar solvents with high fluxes and retentions. Compared with silicon composite membranes, the introduction of multilayered PDDA/SPEEK can efficiently improve the membrane performance and overcome the drawback induced by inorganic fillers. PEC‐based silicon composite membranes thus show excellent prospective use in SRNF. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013