Excellent hydrophilic and anti-bacterial fouling PVDF membrane based on ag nanoparticle self-assembled PCBMA polymer brush

A silver nanoparticles-poly(carboxybetaine methacrylate) (AgNPs-PCBMA) nanocomposite was prepared on poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) membrane surface to improve its hydrophilicity and antifouling properties.Firstly,the PVDF membranes were grafted by PCBMA via physisorbed free radical grafting technique.Then Ag+ coordinated to the carbonyl group on PCBMA and subsequently was reduced to silver nanoparticles.The hydrophilicity of the PVDF-g-PCBMA/Ag membrane was enhanced with the increasing fixed degree (FD) of AgNPs,and the original water contact angle of membrane was reduced to 33.97°.Additionally,water flux recovery ratio (FRR) and bovine serum albumin (BSA) rejection ratio of PVDF-g-PCBMA/AgNPs membrane were improved from 52％ to 93.32％ and 28.12％ to 91.12％,respectively.Further,the PVDF-g-PCBMA/AgNPs membranes exhibited the more pronounced inhibition zone.The study demonstrated that compared with pure AgNPs or the PCBMA polymer brush,the synergistic effect of PCBMA and AgNPs made PVDF membranes have better hydrophilicity and anti-bacterial performances.