Abstract
Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) is common polymer for electrospinning, however, its high hydrophobicity is a major drawback, which cause fouling. To introduce hydrophilicity and antibacterial activity, quaternary ammonium-functionalized amphiphilic diblock copolymers were synthesized and blended with a PVDF/graphene oxide (GO) solution, then, electrospun and coated with a hydrophilic polymer, poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA). The amphiphilic block copolymer, consisting of a hydrophobic poly(methyl methacrylate) block and a hydrophilic poly[N,N-2-(dimethylamino)-ethyl methacrylate) block (PMMA-b-PDMAEMA), was synthesized. Polymeric quaternary ammonium with three different alkyl chain lengths (C2, C4, and C8) were successfully introduced to obtain as q-PMMA-b-PDMAEMA. The q-PMMA-b-PDMAEMA in the nanofiber matrix was confirmed by C=O bands (1734 cm−1) in the Fourier transform infrared spectra. Nano-sized spherical protuberances were distributed on the surface as revealed by field emission scanning and transmission electron microscopies. The PVDF/GO/q-PMMA-b-PDMAEMA@PVA nanofibers has superhydrophilic properties (water contact angle = 0–20°) and the pure water flux was generally improved by increasing the alkyl chain length. When introducing the longest alkyl chain (C8,OBC), the total fouling ratio was the lowest (49.99%) and the bacteria removal capacities after 60 min were the highest for both Escherichia coli (4.2 × 105 CFU/mg) and Staphylococcus aureus (6.1 × 105 CFU/mg) via growth inhibition and cytoplasmic membrane damage.
Highlights
Cost[2,3]
Polymeric quaternary ammonium groups with long alkyl chains were introduced to the PMMA-b-PDMAEMA to yield q-PMMA-b-PDMAEMA amphiphilic block copolymers
To the best of our knowledge, blends of PVDF nanofibers with amine quaternized PMMA-b-PDMAEMA diblock copolymers (q-PMMA-b-PDMAEMA) with alkyl chains have not been investigated for enhancing anti-fouling activity through increased hydrophilicity owing to poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) coating layers and increased antibacterial activity by quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs)
Summary
The high hydrophobicity of PVDF is unsuitable for water treatment membranes, causing fouling, which results in reduced permeation fluxes and increased operating costs To overcome this issue, many attempts have been made to improve the hydrophilicity of PVDF membranes, including hydrophilic polymer coating[4,5], surface grafting[6], blending amphiphilic polymers[7,8,9,10], and introducing inorganic nanoparticles[11,12,13,14]. To the best of our knowledge, blends of PVDF nanofibers with amine quaternized PMMA-b-PDMAEMA diblock copolymers (q-PMMA-b-PDMAEMA) with alkyl chains have not been investigated for enhancing anti-fouling activity through increased hydrophilicity owing to PVA coating layers and increased antibacterial activity by quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs). 1) the synthesis of q-PMMA-b-PDMAEMA with different alkyl chain lengths using CRP-ATRP; 2) the preparation and characterization of PVDF/GO/q-PMMA-b-PDMAEMA nanofibers with PVA coating layer for microfiltration; and 3) the evaluation of anti-fouling activity using fouling reversibility test and anti-bacterial experiments (agar diffusion, dynamic contact, and bacterial cell viability) were investigated
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