Low water flux and high fouling characteristic of most polymeric membranes, such as polypropylene (PP), restrict their widespread application. In order to improve the anti-fouling properties of PP membrane, in this study, nanoclays embedded PP membranes containing 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2 wt.% nanoparticles were fabricated by using thermally induced phase separation (TIPS) method. Also, to achieve an effective dispersion of particles in the membrane matrix, PP-g-MA (PP-grafted maleic anhydride) as a compatibilizer was used. Significant improvement in trends of membranes hydrophilicity, porosity, pure water flux, flux recovery and rejection were observed during filtration of BSA protein solution by embedding nanoclays up to 1.5 wt.%. Furthermore, the thermal stability and tensile strength of membranes were improved by increasing the nanoclays loading. Anti-fouling properties of the fabricated membranes were investigated by using Hermia and combined fouling mechanisms during filtration of BSA protein solution, under trans-membrane pressure of 1.5 bar. The obtained results showed that the neat PP membrane was prone to fouling strongly which is may be due to the inherent hydrophobic characteristic of PP polymer. However, it was found that incorporation of nanoclays into PP membranes could significantly mitigate fouling and improve the membranes performance. (C) 2017 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.