Fabrication of polyethersulfone/sulfonated polysulfone loose nanofiltration membranes for enhanced selectivity of pharmaceuticals and personal care products and minerals

Nanofiltration (NF) membranes have a high removal rate for pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) in drinking water, but they also reject critical minerals (e.g., calcium and magnesium) that are beneficial to health. Herein, polyethersulfone (PES)/sulfonated polysulfone (SPSf) loose NF membranes were fabricated using non-solvent induced phase separation (NIPS) to enable efficient rejection of PPCPs while preserving high mineral permeability. The resultant loose NF membrane showed increased negative charge owing to the -SO3- groups of SPSf. It also exhibited a high water permeance of ∼20.8 L m-2h−1 bar−1 characterized by high PPCPs/minerals selectivity (i.e., rejection of PPCPs > 90 % and rejection of Mg2+ < 5 %). The filtration performance of resultant membrane indicated that the ionic PPCPs (e.g., Indomethacin, Diclofenac Sodium, Levofloxacin, Norfloxacin) were removed by the electrostatic repulsion and adsorption, while the removal of non-ionic PPCPs (e.g., Bisphenol A, Carbamazepine) was primarily dominated by the synergy of adsorption and size exclusion. Therefore, the superior removal rate of hydrophilic PPCPs was due to enhanced PPCP-membrane adsorptive interaction. This study provides a profound understanding of the selective separation mechanism of loose NF membranes for micropollutants and minerals.