Hydrophilic modification of poly(vinylidene fluoride) ultrafiltration membranes by surface UV photo-grafting with N,N′-methylene-bisacrylamide as monomer and Ce(IV) as initiator

Abstract

A UV photo-grafting method was utilised to enhance the hydrophilicity and anti-fouling property of self-made poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) ultrafiltration membranes. N,N′-methylene-bisacrylamide (MBAA) was used as monomer and Ce(IV) was used as initiator to obtain balance between grafting treatment consumption and enhanced performance. MBAA could be grafted onto the surface of pure PVDF membranes through a water-phase grafting method under UV photoradiation. When the MBAA concentration was 0.07 mol/L, the Ce(IV) concentration was 0.04 mol/L, and the irradiation duration was 3 min, the membrane surface was grafted with a sufficient amount of monomer under a UV photoradiation intensity of 5.0 mW/cm2. The water contact angle on the surface of the modified membrane decreased by approximately 16°, and flux recovery increased by approximately 40% compared with the pure PVDF membrane when treating river water. For bovine serum albumin rejection and porosity measurements no significant changes were observed between pure PVDF and graft-treated membranes. The enhanced performance of the modified membrane in this work was moderate, but the UV irradiation duration (3 min) was short. The integrative effects of UV modification in this work were satisfactory when both irradiation duration and enhanced performance were considered.