The effect of functionalized multi-walled carbon tube/polyvinylidene fluoride support membrane on the formation and performance of polyamide film.

Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) support membranes containing varies functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (F-MWCNTs) were prepared via phase inversion. Polyamide (PA) films were formed upon the support membranes by interfacial polymerization. The characteristics (include wettability, pore size, surface roughness, and porosity) of PVDF support membranes were improved by embedding F-MWCNTs into the polymer solution. PA films formed on the different support layers exhibited different morphology, separation performance, and formation mechanism. The results revealed that, as two key parameters, pore size and surface wettability showed dominant influence on the properties of the selective layer. Herein, we proposed a speculative conceptual model to explain the synergistic effect of pore size and surface wettability of F-MWCNTs/PVDF support membrane on interfacial polymerization mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]