In this paper, a poly(methyl methacrylate)-block-poly(ethylene glycol methacrylate) [PMMA-b-P(PEGMA)]
copolymer is synthesized by reversible addition–fragmentation
chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization. Magnetic-functionalized carbon
nanotubes (mCNTs-SH) are grafted with different linear polymers on
the surface by UV-initiated click chemical reaction. A poly(vinylidene
fluoride) (PVDF) composite membrane containing oriented magnetic CNTs
(mCNTs) was achieved. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), gas chromatography,
proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR), and gel permeation
chromatography (GPC) were used to verify the P(PEGMA)-b-PMMA-alkynyl structures. Vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM), thermogravimetric
analysis (TGA), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used
to analyze the magnetic response state of magnetically functionalized
CNTs, the influence of copolymers with different block contents on
the graft rate, and the surface morphology of magnetically functionalized
CNTs, respectively. The molecular weight of P(PEGMA)-b-PMMA, which grafts to the mCNT surface, reaches 17 099 g·mol–1, together with a maximum graft rate of 40.2%. The
surface-grafted mCNTs also show superparamagnetic performance with
the saturation magnetic response strength of 13.0 emu/g. When mCNTs
are oriented in the composite membrane, the pure water flux increases
by more than 60% compared to the pure PVDF membrane. The double interface
layer mCNT/PVDF composite membrane has a lower water contact angle
(62.8°) and a higher pure water flux (6.5 LMH) than the single
interface layer mCNT/PVDF composite membrane with nanochannels.