Amphiphilic poly(vinyl chloride)-g-poly[poly(ethylene glycol) methylether methacrylate] copolymer for the surface hydrophilicity modification of poly(vinylidene fluoride) membrane

In this study, a comblike amphiphilic graft copolymer containing poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) backbones and poly(oxyethylene methacrylate) [poly(ethylene glycol) methylether methacrylate (PEGMA)] side chains was facilely synthesized via an atom transfer radical polymerization method. Secondary chlorines in PVC were used as initial sites to graft a poly[poly(ethylene glycol) methylether methacrylate] [P(PEGMA)] brush. The synthesized PVC-g-P(PEGMA) graft copolymer served as an efficient additive for the hydrophilicity modification of the poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) membrane via a nonsolvent-induced phase-inversion technique. A larger pore size, higher porosity, and better connectivity were obtained for the modified PVDF membrane; this facilitated the permeability compared to the corresponding virgin PVDF membrane. In addition, the modified PVDF membrane showed a distinctively enhanced hydrophilicity and antifouling resistance, as suggested by the contact angle measurement and flux of bovine serum albumin solution tests, respectively. Accordingly, the PVC-g-P(PEGMA) graft copolymer was demonstrated as a successful additive for the hydrophilicity modification, and this study will likely open up new possibilities for the development of efficient amphiphilic PVC-based copolymers for the excellent hydrophilicity modification of PVDF membranes. (c) 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013