Issue 25, 2015

Temperature triggered antifouling properties of poly(vinylidene fluoride) graft copolymers with tunable hydrophilicity

Abstract

A water soluble polymer poly(diethylene glycol methyl ether methacrylate) (PMeO2MA) is grafted on a poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) backbone via coupled atom transfer radical coupling (ATRC) followed by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). The PVDF-g-PMeO2MA copolymers are designated as PD-24, PD-16, etc. depending on the polymerization time and are characterized using 1H NMR spectroscopy, FTIR spectroscopy and gel permeation chromatography. AFM images indicate a change in morphology from spherulitic PVDF to the self-organized nano-sphere morphology with hairy PMeO2MA chains at the surface corona. The TGA data of PD graft copolymers indicate a two-stage degradation whose temperatures are higher compared to those of the components. The glass transition temperatures of the PD graft copolymers are higher than that of PMeO2MA, and both melting point & crystallinity decrease progressively with an increase of graft conversion. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) data indicate that PD graft copolymers possess a lower critical solution temperature (LCST) at ∼30 °C which can be tuned by changing the composition of the graft copolymer. The antifouling properties of the PD-24 film, produced specifically by water treatment at 15 °C (PD-24-15) and 37 °C (PD-24-37), are tested with bovine serum albumin (BSA) at below and above the LCST and a lower protein adsorption is noticed at 37 °C indicating a temperature triggered antifouling property of the PD graft co-polymers. The surface hydrophilicity of the graft copolymer, measured from the contact angle measurement, is higher in the PD graft co-polymer than that of PVDF and the contact angle decreases more significantly for the PD-24-15 film than that for the PD-24-37 film with time. The filtration of BSA solution using these two films monitored through fluorescence intensity indicates ∼60% protein absorption during filtration through the PD-24-15 film but PD-24-37 does not exhibit any change of fluorescence intensity, indicating superior antifouling properties.

Graphical abstract: Temperature triggered antifouling properties of poly(vinylidene fluoride) graft copolymers with tunable hydrophilicity

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
17 Feb 2015
Accepted
11 May 2015
First published
11 May 2015

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2015,3, 13546-13555

Temperature triggered antifouling properties of poly(vinylidene fluoride) graft copolymers with tunable hydrophilicity

A. Kuila, N. Maity, D. P. Chatterjee and A. K. Nandi, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2015, 3, 13546 DOI: 10.1039/C5TA01306B

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