Preparation and characterization of poly(vinylidene fluoride) composite membranes blended with nano-crystalline cellulose

Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) composite membranes blended with nano-crystalline cellulose (NCC) for ultrafiltration were prepared by a Loeb–Sourirajan (L–S) phase inversion process. The effects of NCC concentration on the membrane performances were investigated. Surface chemical compositions, surface and cross-section morphologies, degree of crystallinity and the thermal stability of the membranes were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) respectively. The mechanical properties of the membranes were also investigated. All the experimental results indicated that the properties of the composite membranes were improved due to the addition of NCC. The pure water flux of composite membranes can reach 230.8 L/(m2 h) and increase up to 47.5% compared with pure PVDF membranes. At the same time, the rejection ratio of a bovine serum albumin solution (1 g/L) was up to 92.5%. The porosity and the mean pore size of the composite membranes were 65% and 49 nm, respectively. Due to the addition of NCC, the degree of crystallinity was increased to 52.1% resulting in the enhanced mechanical properties. A typical asymmetric structure, which was composed of sponge-like dense layer and finger-like microporous support layer, was observed in SEM images of composite membranes.