Preparation and characterization of Pd/Fe bimetallic nanoparticles immobilized in PVDF·Al2O3 membrane for dechlorination of monochloroacetic acid

An innovative matrix composed of a poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) membrane modified by adding alumina (Al2O3) nanoparticles was prepared. Pd/Fe nanoparticles (NPs) were successfully immobilized in the PVDF·Al2O3 membrane, which was initially crosslinked by polyacrylic acid (PAA). The PVDF·Al2O3 membrane and the Pd/Fe NPs immobilized in PVDF·Al2O3 were characterized by scanning electronic microscope (SEM), energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). Studies showed that the amount of Fe immobilized in the PVDF·Al2O3 membrane was four times more than the amount in a traditional PVDF membrane carrier of the same surface size. Pd/Fe NPs immobilized in PVDF·Al2O3 exhibited high efficiency and stability in terms of dechlorination of monochloroacetic acid (MCAA). The effects of several important experimental parameters, including the added Al2O3 amount in PVDF, ferrous concentration in crosslinking solution and Pd content in Pd/Fe NPs were investigated. The reasons behind the improved properties of the PVDF·Al2O3 membrane were discussed.

Research highlights
► Al2O3 modified PVDF membrane is good support.
► The high hydrophobicity of PVDF membrane was successfully transformed to hydrophilic support by adding Al2O3.
► Pd/Fe nano-bimetal system immobilized in modified PVDF·Al2O3 membrane showed high stability and durability.
► Pd/Fe NPs system showed high reactivity to catalytic dechlorination of MCAA.