Effect of Polyvinylpyrrolidone on Polyvinylidene Fluoride/Hydroxyapatite Blended Nanofiltration Membranes: Characterization and Filtration Properties.

Introduction The application of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) as a filtration membrane is limited due to its hydrophobicity. This paper elaborated on the fabrication process of nanofiltration PVDF membrane incorporating various quantities of hydrophilic polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and hydroxyapatite (HA) using a wet phase inversion method to improve its hydrophilicity. Methods - Membrane was fabricated by using wet phase inversion method - Membrane was characterized in term of water permeability, water contact angle, water content, surface energy and surface porosity - Bacteria and Fe ions filtration were conducted to investigate the membrane filtration performance Results The PVDF/PVP/HA blended membrane showed the highest water permeability (6,165 LMH/Bar), water content (45.2 %), and surface energy (104.1 mN/m) when 2 wt.% of PVP was introduced into the base polymer PVDF. This fabricated membrane, labeled as PVP 2.0, also showed the lowest contact angle (64°) and the highest surface porosity (42%). Conclusion Overall, the PVP introduction into the polymeric membrane doping solution potentially improves membrane hydrophilicity and permeability. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.net.