Thermo-responsive and Antifouling PVDF Nanocomposited Membranes Based on PNIPAAm Modified TiO2 Nanoparticles

• Published in: Chinese journal of polymer science Vol. 32; no. 7; pp. 892 - 905
• Main Authors: Zhou, Qing, Li, Jian-hua, Yan, Bang-feng, Wu, Dong, Zhang, Qi-qing
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Heidelberg Chinese Chemical Society and Institute of Chemistry, CAS 01.07.2014
• Subjects: Antifouling; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Condensed Matter Physics; Contact angle; Grafting; Industrial Chemistry/Chemical Engineering; Membranes; N-异丙基丙烯酰胺; Nanoparticles; Nanostructure; PNIPAAm; Polymer Sciences; Polyvinylidene fluorides; PVDF膜; TiO2; Titanium dioxide; 热响应; 纳米微粒; 聚偏氟乙烯膜; 防污性; PVDF membrane; TiO; Thermo-responsive; PNIPAAm nanoparticle; -; Antifouling
• ISSN: 0256-7679; 1439-6203
• DOI: 10.1007/s10118-014-1457-2

A novel hydrophilic nanocomposite additive （TiO2-g-PNIPAAm） was synthesized by the surface modification of titanium dioxide （TiO2） with N-isopropylacrylamide （NIPAAm） via ＂graft-from＂ technique. And the nanocomposite membrane of poly（vinylidene fluoride） （PVDF）/TiO2-g-PNIPAAm was fabricated by wet phase inversion. The graft degree was obtained by thermo-gravimetric analysis （TGA）. Fourier transform infrared attenuated reflection spectroscopy （FTIR-ATR） and X-ray photoelectronic spectroscopy （XPS） characterization results suggested that TiO2-g-PNIPAAm nanoparticles segregated on membrane surface during the phase separation process. Scanning electron microscopy （SEM） was conducted to investigate the surface and cross-section of the modified membranes. The water contact angle measurements confirmed that TiO2-g-PNIPAAm nanoparticles endowed PVDF membranes better hydrophlilicity and thermo-responsive properties compared with those of the pristine PVDF membrane. The water contact angle decreased from 92.8~ of the PVDF membrane to 61.2~ of the nanocompostie membrane. Bovine serum albumin （BSA） static and dynamic adsorption experiments suggested that excellent antifouling properties of membranes was acquired after adding TiO2-g- PNIPAAm. The maximum BSA adsorption at 40℃ was about 3 times than that at 23 ℃. The permeation experiments indicated the water flux recover ratio and BSA rejection ratio were improved at different temperatures.