Preparation of Poly(acrylic acid‐co‐acrylamide) Hydrogel‐Modified PVDF Membrane and Its Separation and Antibacterial Properties

Abstract Commercial polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) microporous membranes are coated with P(AA‐ co ‐AM) hydrogel with different proportions of acrylic acid (AA) and acrylamide (AM). Thus, P(AA‐ co ‐AM)/PVDF membranes with good structure and excellent performance are prepared. The surface morphology and structure of P(AA‐ co ‐AM)/PVDF membranes are characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT‐IR). The water contact angle (WCA), underwater oil contact angle (UOCA), pure water flux, separation flux, and separation efficiency of P(AA‐ co ‐AM)/PVDF membranes are measured. The antibacterial properties of P(AA‐ co ‐AM)/PVDF membranes are tested, and the prepared membranes have good antibacterial activity against E. coli and S. aureus after chlorination. The prepared P(AA‐ co ‐AM)/PVDF membranes show good hydrophilicity and underwater oleophobicity, and improved separation performance of mud, oil–water emulsion, metal ions, and organic dyes.