Influence of Ag/TiO2 nanoparticle on the surface hydrophilicity and visible-light response activity of polyvinylidene fluoride membrane

• Published in: Applied surface science Vol. 324; pp. 82 - 89
• Main Authors: Li, Jian-Hua, Yan, Bang-Feng, Shao, Xi-Sheng, Wang, Shuang-Shuang, Tian, Hai-Yan, Zhang, Qi-Qing
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.01.2015
• Subjects: Ag/TiO2 nanoparticles; Bacteria; Hydrophilicity; Membranes; Nanostructure; Polyvinylidene fluorides; PVDF membrane; Silver; Surface chemistry; Surface hydrophilicity; Titanium dioxide; Visible-light response activity; Visible-light response activity; PVDF membrane; Surface hydrophilicity; Ag/TiO2 nanoparticles
• ISSN: 0169-4332
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2014.10.080

•A novel PVDF membrane was fabricated by embedment of Ag/TiO2 on the membrane.•Influence of Ag/TiO2 on PVDF membrane was investigated by a series of experiments.•Ag/TiO2 provided PVDF membrane with excellent surface hydrophilicity.•Visible-light response activity of PVDF membrane varied with silver content. A novel polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane, i.e. Ag/TiO2/PVDF composite membrane, was prepared via the blending/photo reduction combined method in this paper. And the influence of Ag/TiO2 embedment on the surface property of PVDF membrane was discussed, including the surface hydrophilicity and visible-light response activity. ATR/FTIR characterization certified that amount of hydroxyl group (OH) was formed on the PVDF membrane surface owing to the embedment of Ag/TiO2. The results suggested that the increased hydrophilicity of PVDF membrane can be achieved through the addition of Ag/TiO2 nanoparticles because the surface hydroxyl group (OH) had great contribution to membrane hydrophilicity. The increased hydrophilicity was also demonstrated by the contact angle measurement. In a word, Ag/TiO2 improved the surface hydrophilicity of PVDF membrane in contrast with virgin PVDF membrane. Besides, Ag/TiO2 nanoparticle provided PVDF membrane with an enhanced visible-light response activity. Ag/TiO2/PVDF composite membrane showed excellent activity on degradation of methylene blue (MB) and inactivation of bacterial under visible-light illumination. I hope this research can provide a new way for PVDF surface modification.