Enhanced properties of PES membrane with bionic surface of self-assembled core-shell micelles

•Bionic surface of self-assembled core-shell micelles was fabricated.•Membrane with regular papillae structure showed enhanced properties.•Water contact angle was decreased from 78.3° to as low as 43.8°.•Water flux recovery ratio was increased to as high as 97.4%. Herein, self-assembled core-shell micelles of amphiphilic comb copolymer imitating the structure of fish scales was employed to tune the surface structure and surface properties of PES membrane. Numerous papillae with a diameter of 100–200 nm were fabricated on membrane surface, which effectively improved the performances of the resultant membrane. Upon modification, water contact angle of the membrane was decreased from 78.3° to as low as 43.8°, while the flux recovery ratio was increased from 61.2% to as high as 97.4%. This study provided a facile way for the fabrication of composite membranes with regular surface structure.