Porous poly(vinylidene fluoride) membrane modified with hyperbranched poly(amine-ester)

Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) membranes were hydrophilic modified with hydroxyl group terminated hyperbranched poly(amine-ester) (HPAE). Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) was used to study the chemical change of PVDF membranes. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) indicated that some HPAE molecules were retained in PVDF membrane through polymer chain coiling. The presence of HPAE would improve the hydrophilicity of PVDF membrane. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was employed to characterize the morphology of different membranes. The thermodynamic stability for PVDF/DMAc/HPAE/Water system was characterized by the determination of the gelation values. Precipitation kinetics for PVDF/DMAc/HPAE/Water system was studied by precipitation time measurement. The water contact angle indicated that the hydrophilicity and the biocompatibility corresponding to protein adsorption of PVDF membrane were improved significantly after blending with hydrophilic HPAE molecules. Copyright (C) 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.