Surface Characterization of Argon/Methane Mixture Atmospheric-Pressure Plasma-Treated Filtration Poly(Vinylidene Fluoride) Membrane and Its Flux Enhancement

Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) was extensively used as the filtration material because of its stable thermal and chemical capabilities. However, hydrophobic surface of PVDF membrane induces the restriction for its manufacturing uses. In light of this, the plasma at atmospheric pressure was used for the PVDF membrane surface treatment with argon/methane gas mixture in this paper. The variation in hydrophilicity of the plasma-treated PVDF membrane was analyzed by the contact angle analysis. It shows that this plasma is operative in membrane surface modification. The argon/methane gas mixture cyclonic plasma-treated PVDF membrane also showed the enhanced filtration behavior rather than the untreated PVDF membrane.