Overall
- Language
- English
- Conflict of Interest
- In relation to this article, we declare that there is no conflict of interest.
- Publication history
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Received May 1, 2025
Revised August 28, 2025
Accepted October 18, 2025
Available online February 25, 2026
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This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/bync/3.0) which permits
unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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Tailoring Antibacterial PVDF Membranes by Radiation-induced Acrylic Acid Grafting and Metal Nanoparticle Embedding
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11814-025-00579-x
Abstract
Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membranes possess excellent mechanical strength but are prone to bacterial fouling, limiting
their water filtration performance. This study enhances the antibacterial properties of PVDF membranes by grafting
acrylic acid (AAc) via gamma irradiation, using both pre-irradiation and simultaneous irradiation methods. Subsequent
immobilization of silver (AgNPs) and copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) was performed to further improve antibacterial efficiency.
Characterization using FTIR, SEM and EDX confirmed successful grafting and nanoparticle incorporation. The
simultaneous irradiation method achieved a higher grafting degree (22%) than pre-irradiation (1.5%), resulting in superior
nanoparticle loading (Ag: 4.21 wt%, Cu: 0.58 wt%) and antibacterial performance. Against E. coli, AgNP-modified
membranes showed inhibition efficiencies up to 98.99%, whereas CuNP-modified membranes achieved 38.53%. These
findings demonstrate that simultaneous irradiation combined with AgNP loading significantly improves the antibacterial
functionality of PVDF membranes, offering a promising strategy for water treatment applications.
