Synergistic effects of organic and inorganic additives in preparation of composite poly(vinylidene fluoride) antifouling ultrafiltration membranes

ABSTRACT Composite ultrafiltration membranes were successfully fabricated by blending a nonionic surfactant and inorganic nanoparticles via a nonsolvent‐induced phase separation (NIPS) method. Brij35 was used as the nonionic surfactant and silica (SiO2) nanoparticles from rice husk ash, a low cost and widely available material, were used as the inorganic nanoparticles. The synergetic effect of both additives was used to tailor the membrane structure and properties because the selected additives showed completely different or, in some cases, the opposite effect on the membrane properties and structure. The combined effects of Brij and SiO2 resulted in a membrane with a noticeable improvement in membrane overall performance including pure water permeability, hydrophilicity, antifouling properties, long‐term stability, tensile strength, on the cost of a slight decrease in membrane elongation. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019, 136, 47737.