Fabrication of organic–inorganic hybrid membranes composed of poly(vinylidene fluoride) and silver cyanamide and their high photocatalytic activity under visible light irradiation

Abstract

A new hybrid membrane composed of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) and silver cyanamide (Ag₂NCN) has been successfully fabricated via an induced phase inversion method by blending Ag₂NCN particles and PVDF casting solution. The rectangular Ag₂NCN particles were well dispersed in PVDF membranes via weak physical interaction, and the Ag₂NCN amount was varied to investigate the effect of the Ag₂NCN particles on the photocatalytic properties of PVDF/Ag₂NCN hybrid membranes. The as-prepared hybrid membranes display excellent photocatalytic activity towards the degradation of Acid Blue 1 under visible light irradiation, showing great potential for practical applications. Particularly, these PVDF/Ag₂NCN hybrid membranes have enhanced photocatalytic properties under acidic conditions, and a possible H⁺-promoted photocatalytic mechanism was proposed in this study. Furthermore, this facile and generic strategy may provide a convenient and powerful method to fabricate other polymer–inorganic hybrid membranes for advanced applications.