Effectiveness of different CuO morphologies nanomaterials on the permeability, antifouling, and mechanical properties of PVDF/PVP/CuO ultrafiltration membrane for water treatment

Abstract

The hydrophobic nature of Poly (vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) is a significant barrier to use in ultrafiltration, resulting in fouling, flux decline, and reduced lifespan in water treatment. This study examines the effectiveness of different morphologies of CuO nanomaterials (NMs) (spherical, rod, plate, and flower), synthesized by the facile hydrothermal method, to modify PVDF membrane with PVP additive for improving the performance of water permeability and antifouling. Such membrane configurations with different morphologies of CuO NMs improved hydrophilicity with a maximum water flux of 222-263 L m^-2h^-1 compared to 195 L m^-2h^-1 for the bare membrane and exhibited excellent thermal and mechanical strengths. The characterization results exhibited that plate-like CuO NMs were dispersed uniformly in the membrane matrix, and their incorporation as a composite improved the membrane properties. From the antifouling test with the bovine serum albumin (BSA) solution, the membrane with plate-like CuO NMs had the highest flux recovery ratio (FRR) (∼91%) and the lowest irreversible fouling ratio (∼10%). The antifouling enhancement was due to less interaction between modified membranes and foulant. Further, the nanocomposite membrane showed excellent stability and negligible Cu²⁺ ion leaching. Overall, our findings provide a new strategy for developing inorganic nanocomposite PVDF membranes for water treatment.

Keywords: CuO NMs; Morphology; Nanocomposite membrane; Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF); Ultrafiltration (UF).