Enhanced permeability and antifouling performance of polyether sulfone (PES) membrane via elevating magnetic Ni@MXene nanoparticles to upper layer in phase inversion process

In this study, magnetic Ni@MXene nanoparticles were firstly developed and then elevated to the upper layer of polyether sulfone (PES) membrane by an external magnetic field during the wet phase inversion process. Flux of the prepared PES-Ni@MXene membrane was 2.5 times of that of the control PES membrane. Moreover, PES-Ni@MXene membranes showed a significant promotion of antifouling ability, evidenced by the flux recovery rates (FRR) of 64.6% and 99.8% for bovine serum albumin (BSA) and humic acid (HA) solutions, respectively. The antifouling performance of the PES-Ni@MXene membrane was comparable or better than those in the literature studies. Meanwhile, the optimal PES-Ni@MXene membrane possessed an efficient decoloration ability for Congo red (CR) solution and colored emulsion. To analyze the anti-fouling mechanism, the interaction energies between the membrane surface and pollutants (BSA and HA) were computed via the extended Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek (XDLVO) theory. The results showed that the total attraction energy between PES-Ni@MXene membrane and pollutant interface was smaller than that between the control PES membrane and pollutant interface. This study provided a new incentive to development of high-efficient Mxene-based membranes.