Fabrication of polyvinylidene difluoride nano-hybrid dialysis membranes using functionalized multiwall carbon nanotube for polyethylene glycol (hydrophilic additive) retention

Nano-modification of membrane is another latest technique used to improve the membrane performance. In this paper, the influence and interaction of functionalized multiwall carbon nanotube (FMWCNT) with polyethylene glycol (PEG) as an additive on polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) membrane was investigated. The nano-modified membranes were then characterized in terms of pure water permeation (PWP), molecular weight cut-off (MWCO), contact angle, and calculated pore size distributions. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) were then used to characterize the structure and morphology of the membranes. The separation properties of the membranes with respect to bovine serum albumin (BSA) retention, urea and creatinine clearances were investigated. The results revealed that the interaction of FMWCNT with PEG as an additive has improved the performance of PVDF as a potential dialysis membrane in terms of PWP, hydrophilicity retention, urea and creatinine clearances.