EFFECT OF ACID–BASE PROPERTY OF INORGANIC NANOPARTICLES ON ANTIFOULING PERFORMANCE OF PVDF COMPOSITE ULTRAFILTRATION MEMBRANES

Abstract

Pure poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) membrane and PVDF composite membranes modified by three kinds of inorganic nanoparticles ( SiO 2, Al 2 O 3, and TiO 2) were made using a phase inversion method and characterized by pure water flux, retention efficiency of Bovine serum albumin (BSA), flux reduction coefficient, and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The results of flux reduction coefficient illustrated that PVDF membrane modified by nanoparticles had better antifouling property in the order of TiO 2, Al 2 O 3, SiO 2. The Lewis acid–base properties of the nanoparticle materials were measured by inverse gas chromatography (IGC). The Lewis acid number, Ka, and Lewis base number, Kb, had the following order Ka TiO 2 < Ka Al 2 O 3 < Ka SiO 2, and Kb TiO 2 > Kb Al 2 O 3 > Kb SiO 2. The experimental results indicated that PVDF membrane modified by nanoparticles with relatively strong base exhibited excellent antifouling performance.