Effect of tetraoctylphosphonium bromide (TOPBR) clay composition on polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) nanocomposite ultrafiltration membrane

Abstract

Nanocomposite membranes containing polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and tetraoctylphosphonium bromide clay (TOPBr) were prepared by phase inversion method. Different TOPBr and PVDF contents were used in order to investigate the effect of TOPBr clay composition on the membrane properties. The morphology of PVDF/TOPBr nanocomposite ultrafiltration (UF) membrane was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and hydrophilicity of the nanocomposite membrane was evaluated in terms of water content, porosity and pure water flux (PWF). The results revealed that the increasing of TOPBr clay content produced more porous nanocomposite membrane due to the formation of many finger like pores and microvoids. The hydrophilicity of the membranes was strongly enhanced by increasing the contents of TOPBr clay.

Keywords: Polyvinylidene fluoride; Nanocomposite membrane; Ultrafiltration; Hydrophilicity; Clay