Enhanced antifouling and antibacterial performances on polytetrafluoroethylene microporous membranes sputtered with silver nanoparticles

A bare polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membrane has poor antifouling and antibacterial performance in the application process. In this work, the silver nanoparticle layer (AgNP-layer) was deposited onto the PTFE membrane surface via the magnetron sputtering process to overcome these limitations. Several spectra and microscopic analyses were taken to characterize the synthesized PTFE/AgNP-layer composite membranes. The effects of magnetron sputtering time on the AgNP-layer distribution, microstructure, antifouling, and antibacterial properties were systematically investigated. Our results showed the successful deposition and grafting of the AgNP-layer on the PTFE membrane surface and inside the cross-sectional pores near the membrane surface. The AgNP-layer not only improved the composite membrane wettability but also reduced its protein adsorption capacity from 88 to 39 μg, thus improving the antifouling ability of the membrane. The composite membranes could also achieve 99% and 88% antibacterial rates against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, respectively, exhibiting good antibacterial activity.