In Situ Growth of ZIF-67 Particles on PVDF Electrospun Nanofibers

Abstract

Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) is widely used as a membrane material for applications such as filtration and water treatment due to its unique properties such as high mechanical strength, chemical resistance, ease of electrospinning, thermal stability, and high hydrophobicity. Using embedded organic and/or inorganic fillers, excellent separation efficiency and antifouling performance can be readily achieved. Among these fillers, metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) materials have drawn a lot of attention from researchers due to their variety and unique structures. These properties are further amplified when MOFs are at nanoscale. The synthesis of particles at this scale is challenging and only limited research has been published. With the help of electrospinning, nano-scaled ZIF-67 particles were grown on the surface of the PVDF fibers. In this work, the influence of solvents and ligand concentration on the morphology of the particles formed were evaluated. The morphology of the fibers was analyzed through SEM and the structural characterization was confirmed by XRD and FTIR, while the mass concentration of ZIF-67 was estimated by TGA. These materials are excellent candidates for applications such as textiles, filtration, and gas separation.