Fabrication of organic–inorganic hybrid membranes composed of poly(vinylidene fluoride) and silver cyanamide and their high photocatalytic activity under visible light irradiation

A new hybrid membrane composed of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) and silver cyanamide (Ag2NCN) has been successfully fabricated via an induced phase inversion method by blending Ag2NCN particles and PVDF casting solution. The rectangular Ag2NCN particles were well dispersed in PVDF membranes via weak physical interaction, and the Ag2NCN amount was varied to investigate the effect of the Ag2NCN particles on the photocatalytic properties of PVDF/Ag2NCN hybrid membranes. The as-prepared hybrid membranes display excellent photocatalytic activity towards the degradation of Acid Blue 1 under visible light irradiation, showing great potential for practical applications. Particularly, these PVDF/Ag2NCN hybrid membranes have enhanced photocatalytic properties under acidic conditions, and a possible H+-promoted photocatalytic mechanism was proposed in this study. Furthermore, this facile and generic strategy may provide a convenient and powerful method to fabricate other polymer–inorganic hybrid membranes for advanced applications.