A poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) film was successfully modified to have hydrophilicity by three modification steps: (1) alkaline treatment to defluorinate the original PVDF film, (2) nucleophilic addition to hydrophilize the PVDF film, and (3) grafting acrylic acid (g-AA) to change the hydrophilization extent of the modified support film in order to facilitate the uniform distribution of metallic nanoparticles (NPs) immobilized on the modified film. Pd/Fe NPs were prepared and immobilized on the PVDF film grafted with AA (g-AA). The Pd-Fe/PVDF-g-AA NPs were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, contact angle analysis, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The Pd-Fe/PVDF-g-AA NPs exhibited high reactivity in the dechlorination of monochloroacetic acid (MCAA). The effects of acrylic acid concentration and Pd loading content on the MCAA dechlorination process were investigated. The kinetics of MCAA dechlorination by Pd-Fe/PVDF-g-AA NPs was discussed, and a conceptual model was proposed. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.