Fabrication of an antifouling and acid/alkali‐resistant sulfonated polyethersulfone (S‐PES)/polysulfate (PSE) composite ultrafiltration membrane and its application in the desalination of ulinastatin

Abstract BACKGROUND An antifouling and acid/alkali‐resistant sulfonated polyethersulfone (S‐PES)/polysulfate (PSE) composite ultrafiltration (UF) membrane prepared via a nonsolvent‐induced phase separation (NIPS) method was used for the purification of ulinastatin (UTI) as an examplar protein‐based drug. RESULT The effect of the content of S‐PES on the structure and UF performance of the S‐PES/PSE composite UF membrane was investigated. The acid/alkaline resistance of the S‐PES/PSE membranes was evaluated in the pH range 5–10 suitable for a UTI solution. UF desalination experiments were carried out on UTI elution collection solution, and the antifouling performance and long‐term stability of S‐PES/PSE composite UF membrane were evaluated. The results indicate that, for the optimal content of 4% S‐PES, pure water flux increased from 120 to 726 L m −2 h −1 , WCA decreased from 79.3° to 51.0°, and the rejection of UTI was 95.90% ± 1.1% compared to PSE. Compared with PES and PSF membranes, the flux recovery rate of the S‐PES/PSE composite UF membrane was 80.63% (an increase of 32.48%), and the UTI adsorption was only 75.00 μg cm −2 (a decrease of 88.00%) after simulated antifouling experiments. CONCLUSION The S‐PES/PSE composite UF membrane has excellent long‐term stability, suggesting significant potential for application in the purification of protein‐based drugs and in large‐scale UTI purification. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry (SCI).