Comb-like structural modification stabilizes polyvinylidene fluoride membranes to realize thermal-regulated sustainable transportation efficiency

Jingfeng Yuan; Dong Zhang; Yanhong Fu; Yifeng Ni; Yiting Wang; Iryna Protsak; Yuting Yang; Yipeng Peng; Jun Tan; Jintao Yang

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2021.01.091

Comb-like structural modification stabilizes polyvinylidene fluoride membranes to realize thermal-regulated sustainable transportation efficiency

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2021 Jun:591:173-183. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2021.01.091. Epub 2021 Feb 4.

Authors

Jingfeng Yuan¹, Dong Zhang², Yanhong Fu¹, Yifeng Ni¹, Yiting Wang¹, Iryna Protsak³, Yuting Yang⁴, Yipeng Peng⁵, Jun Tan⁶, Jintao Yang⁷

Affiliations

¹ College of Materials Science& Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, PR China.
² Department of Chemical, Biomolecular, and Corrosion Engineering, The University of Akron, OH 44325, USA. Electronic address: dz39@uakron.edu.
³ Chuiko Institute of Surface Chemistry of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv 03164, Ukraine.
⁴ Department of Periodontology, The Second Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310009, PR China.
⁵ Department of Aerospace Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50010, USA.
⁶ College of Biological, Chemical Science and Technology, Jiaxing University, Jiaxing 314001, PR China.
⁷ College of Materials Science& Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, PR China. Electronic address: yangjt@zjut.edu.cn.

PMID: 33596504
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2021.01.091

Abstract

Hydrophobic micro-porous membrane such as polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) with excellent thermal-/chemical-stability and low surface energy has received extensive attention in industrial water treatment and sustainable energy conversion. However, undesirable contaminants caused by inevitable proteins or microorganisms adhesion may lead to a rapid loss of separation efficiency, which significantly deteriorate their porous structures and eventually limit their practical performance. Herein, we present a scalable approach for fabricating comb-like copolymer modified PVDF membranes (PVDF-PN@AgNPs) that prevent bacteria from proliferating on the surface and temperature-controlled release of adhered contaminants. Comb-like structured copolymers were imparted to a polydopamine (PDA)-treated PVDF membrane by Michael addition reaction, which enabled a covalent binding of comb-like structured copolymers to the membrane. Such unique structural design of grafted copolymer, containing hydrophilic side chain and temperature-responsive chain backbone, stably prevents bacteria adhesion and provides reversible surface wettability. Therefore, the resultant membranes were evaluated to prevent bacterial adhesion, high touch-killing efficiency and temperature-controlled contaminants release (~99% of protein and ~75% of bacteria). Moreover, with the collapse and stretch of grafted copolymer chain backbone, the synthetic membrane further reversibly adjusted inner micro-porous structure and surface wettability, which eventually helped to achieve variable water fluid transport efficiency. This study not only provides a feasible structural design for stably coping with the challenging of antifouling and subsequent contamination adhesion of PVDF membrane, but also potentially answers the significant gap between lab research advances and practical application, particularly in the industrial membrane field.

Keywords: Antibacterial surface; Antifouling; Comb-like copolymer; Fluid transportation; Separation membrane.