Preparation and anti-fouling performance of polyvinylidene fluoride composite membranes modified with different contents of tio2 /go

Abstract

In this study, we report a new method for the in situ preparation of a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)-based composite membrane. The strategy used in this method involves the combination of a one-step synthesis of the gel–sol method with a traditional immersion precipitation process. The TiO2 /GO (graphene oxide) composite was uniformly dispersed in N,N-dimethylformamide solution in different proportions, and then the PVDF polymer was dissolved into the resulting N,N-dimethylformamide sol system to obtain a homogeneous casting solution. A homogeneous TiO2 / GO/PVDF casting solution was then obtained by dissolving PVDF in the N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) sol with different contents of TiO2 /GO particles. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis showed that the prepared composite particles were a uniform mixture of TiO2 and GO. Based on the precipitation kinetics and membrane morphology, we proved that the introduction of TiO2 /GO particles accelerated the phase inversion of the casting solution and made the pore diameter and pore diameter of the composite membrane change. The performance test of the composite membrane showed that TiO2 /GO and PVDF were effectively bonded, TiO2 /GO was transferred to the membrane surface during the phase conversion process, and the hydrophilicity of the composite membrane surface was enhanced. From the results of the separation and anti-fouling properties of the composite membrane, the composite membrane with 5% TiO2 /GO particles had excellent anti-fouling properties.