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.