Preparation of Poly(acrylic acid-co-acrylamide) Hydrogel-Modified PVDF Membrane and Its Separation and Antibacterial Properties

Commercial polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) microporous membranes are coated with P(AA-co-AM) hydrogel with different proportions of acrylic acid (AA) and acrylamide (AM). Thus, P(AA-co-AM)/PVDF membranes with good structure and excellent performance are prepared. The surface morphology and structure of P(AA-co-AM)/PVDF membranes are characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The water contact angle (WCA), underwater oil contact angle (UOCA), pure water flux, separation flux, and separation efficiency of P(AA-co-AM)/PVDF membranes are measured. The antibacterial properties of P(AA-co-AM)/PVDF membranes are tested, and the prepared membranes have good antibacterial activity against E. coli and S. aureus after chlorination. The prepared P(AA-co-AM)/PVDF membranes show good hydrophilicity and underwater oleophobicity, and improved separation performance of mud, oil-water emulsion, metal ions, and organic dyes.