Electrospun PVDF-Ag@AgCl porous fiber membrane: stable antifoul and antibacterial surface

The formation of membrane fouling in the process of wastewater treatment is a significant challenge. Here, the authors present a novel strategy to design a filtration membrane with efficient antifouling property by one-pot electrospinning of silver chloride (AgCl) and dimethylformamide (AgCl₂ ⁻/DMF) solution. The silver chloride in the porous polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) fiber was partly reduced into Ag⁰ to form Ag@AgCl after light irradiation. Nanoporous structure of the PVDF-Ag@AgCl electrospun fibers was obtained and adjusted by controlling the water content in the solution, which was also affected by the concentration of sodium chloride (NaCl) and silver nitrate (AgNO₃). Thereafter, the prepared PVDF-Ag@AgCl nanoporous fiber membrane exhibited excellent and stable antifouling efficiency in terms of photodegradation effect on methyl orange (more than 80% degradation even after three times of recycling), antibacterial ability (2.1–2.4 mm zone of inhabitation) and flux permeability recovery towards bovine serum albumin (BSA) in the process of recycling (about 93% by 40 min in the first cycles and 62% in the third cycles). Hence, the as-prepared membrane is found to be a multifunctional composite with a high potential in the field of wastewater treatment.