Synthesis and Characterization of Graft Copolymer PVDF-g-PNIPAAm via ATRP and Its Separating Membranes

The direct graft temperature-sensitive material N-isopropylacrylamide(NIPAAm) on commercial poly(vinylidene fluoride)(PVDF) via atom transfer radical polymerization(ATRP) is demonstrated. The application of ATRP used Copper(I) chloride(CuCl)/Tris(2-dimethylaminoethyl)amine(Me6REN) as the catalyst systems and N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) as solvent. The graft copolymers of PVDF-g-PNIPAAm were characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and H-1 NMR spectra. The effects of polymerization temperature and reaction time on grafting ratio were studied. The PVDF-g-PNIPAAm membranes were prepared from the graft copolymers by the phase inversion method. The effect of temperature on the flux of pure water for the PVDF-g-PNIPAAm membrane was investigated. The results show that alkyl fluorides are successfully applied in the ATRP and the PVDF-g-PNIPAAm membranes can exhibit temperature-sensitive performance as the temperature change.