Hydrophilic modification of PVDF membranes by in situ synthesis of nano-Ag with nano-ZrO2

Abstract Modified polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membranes were prepared by the phase inversion method via blending in situ formed nanosilver (Ag) and nanozirconium dioxide (ZrO 2 ). Scanning electron microscopy of the membranes revealed that the surface pore size of the membranes was increased and distributed widely with the addition of modified nanosilver (Ag) and nanozirconium dioxide (ZrO 2 ). The pores of the membrane were reduced due to excessive modification of the material when the content of zirconium dioxide was increased to 0.4%. XRD characterization showed that in situ synthesis of nanosilver (Ag) and nanozirconium dioxide (ZrO 2 ) had been successfully blended in the membranes. The contact angle of the modified membrane ranged from 82.72° to 67.37°, which showed that the hydrophilic properties of the membrane were improved. The pure water flux of the modified membrane increased from 28.43 to 143.2 L/m 2 h, indicating that the hydrophilicity of the modified membrane was enhanced significantly. The flux recovery rate of the modified membrane was obviously increased in the fouling experiment with BSA as the source of organic pollutants. The antimicrobial contamination of the membrane was greatly enhanced with the E. coli microbial contamination experiment.