Preparation and characterization of a novel PVDF ultrafiltration membrane by blending with TiO2-HNTs nanocomposites

Novel polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) ultrafiltration membranes were prepared by blending with different contents of titanium dioxide-halloysite nanotubes (TiO2-HNTs) composites into the PVDF matrix. The effects of TiO2-HNTs content on the membrane performances, such as hydrophilicity, rejection ratio and antifouling properties were investigated in detail. X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermo-gravimetric analyzer (TGA) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) analyses showed that TiO2 was loaded on the surface of HNTs successfully and homogeneously by sol-gel method. The morphologies and microstructure of the membranes were characterized by SEM and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The contact angle (CA) tests indicated that the hydrophilicity of membranes was significantly increased with the addition of TiO2-HNTs. The pure water flux of 3%TiO2-HNTs/PVDF was increased by 264.8% and 35.6%, respectively, compared with pure PVDF membrane and 3%TiO2/PVDF membrane, although the rejection of bovine serum albumin (BSA) was slightly decreased. More importantly, TiO2-HNTs/PVDF membrane exhibited an excellent anti-fouling performance, which was attributed to the hydrophobic contaminants being resisted by hydrophilic nanoparticles. It can be expected that this work may provide some references to solve the dispersion of nanoparticle in the membrane and improve the anti-fouling performance of membrane in the field of wastewater treatment. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.