Unique nanoporous antibacterial membranes derived through crystallization induced phase separation in PVDF/PMMA blends

In this study, a unique method was adopted to design porous membranes through crystallization induced phase separation in PVDF/PMMA (poly(vinylidene fluoride)/poly(methyl methacrylate)) blends. By etching out PMMA, which segregates either in the interlamellar and/or in the interspherulitic regions of the blends, nanoporous hierarchical structures can be derived. Different nanoparticles like titanium dioxide (TiO2), silver nanoparticle (Ag) decorated carbon nanotubes (Ag-CNTs), TiO2 decorated CNTs (TiO2-CNTs), Ag decorated TiO2 (Ag-TiO2) and Ag-TiO2 decorated CNTs (Ag@TiO2-CNTs) were synthesized and melt mixed with 80/20 PVDF/PMMA blends to render antibacterial activity to the membranes. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to study the crystalline morphology of the membranes. A significant improvement in the trans-membrane flux was obtained in the blends with Ag@TiO2 decorated CNTs as compared to the membranes derived from the neat blends, which can be attributed to the interconnected pores in these membranes. Both qualitative and quantitative studies of antifouling and antibacterial activity (using E. coli as a model bacterium) were performed using the standard plate count method. SEM micrographs clearly showed that the antifouling activity of the membranes was improved with addition of Ag@TiO2-CNTs. In the quantitative standard plate count method, the bacterial colony significantly decreased with the addition of Ag@TiO2-CNTs as against neat blends. This study opens a new avenue in the fabrication of polymer blend based membranes for water filtration.