Robust In Situ Fouling Control toward Thin-Film Composite Reverse Osmosis Membrane via One-Step Deposition of a Ternary Homogeneous Metal–Organic Hybrid Layer

Membrane fouling is one of the persistent headaches for water desalination because of the significant detriment to membrane performance and operating cost control. It is a great challenge to overcome such crisis in a facile and robust manner. This work was dedicated to customizing an antifouling thin-film composite (TFC) reverse osmosis (RO) membrane with a polydopamine (PDA)/β-alanine (βAla)/Cu2+ ternary homogeneous metal–organic hybrid coating. The metal ions were evenly distributed in a continuous organic network via polydentate coordination. The incorporation of βAla enabled a substantial promotion of the Cu2+ loading capacity on the membrane surface. The involved one-step codeposition protocol made the surface engineering practically accessible. The deposition time was optimized to afford an uncompromising permselectivity of the membrane. This novel trinity was a smart blend of anti-adhesive and bactericidal factors, and each component in the all-in-one layer performed its own function. The hydrophilic PDA/βAla phase induced weak deposition propensity of organic foulant and bacteria onto the modified membrane, as elucidated by water flux variation, foulants adhesion profile, and interfacial interaction energy. Meanwhile, the Cu2+-loaded surface strongly inactivated the attached bacteria to further alleviate biofouling. Excellent sustainability and stability implied the reliable performance of such trinity-coated membrane in practical service. Given the simplicity and robustness, this work opened a promising avenue for in situ fouling control of TFC RO membranes during water desalination.