Fabrication and characterization of antibacterial PVDF hollow fibre membrane by doping Ag-loaded zeolites

This work describes the fabrication and characterization of antibacterial poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) hollow fibre membranes via phase inversion using dry-jet wet-spinning technique. Ag-loaded NaY zeolites were particularly synthesized and then doped with PVDF spinning solution to produce a novel antibacterial hollow fibre with enhanced antibacterial efficiency. The morphologies, crystal structures, and Ag + loading of synthesized Ag-loaded NaY zeolites were analyzed by field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES), respectively. The antibacterial efficiencies of the prepared hollow fibre membranes against Escherichia coli ( E. coli ) were evaluated by halo zone test, E. coli suspension filtration test and adhesion test. The surface morphologies , pure water flux, hydrophilicity, tensile strength , through-pore size, resistance to BSA of antibacterial PVDF hollow fibre membrane were also investigated. All results demonstrated that PVDF hollow fibre fabricated by doping Ag-loaded zeolites showed excellent antibacterial property, high permeability and mechanical strength , indicating the promising application as the antibacterial ultra-filtration membranes.