Biofouling mitigation of Nb₂AlC and Mo₃AlC₂ MXene-precursors doped polyether sulfone mixed matrix membranes for...

This study explores the incorporation of Nb₂AlC and Mo₃AlC₂ MAX phases, known for their nano-layered structure, into polyether sulfone (PES) membranes to enhance their antifouling and permeability properties for pathogen microorganism filtration against bovine serum albumin (BSA) and Escherichia coli (E. coli). The composite membranes were characterized for their structural and morphological properties, and their performance in mitigating biofouling was evaluated. The structural characterizations have been performed for all the prepared MAX phases and corresponding composite membranes. The antioxidant ability of Nb₂AlC and Mo₃AlC₂ MAX phases was defined by the DPPH radical scavenging assay, and the highest antioxidant ability was found to be 59.35 %, while 53.69 % scavenging potential was recorded at 100 mg/L. The percentage scavenging ability was raised with an increase in concentrations. The antimicrobial properties of MAX phases, evaluated as the minimum inhibitory concentration, were stated against several pathogen microorganisms. The tested compounds of Nb₂AlC and Mo₃AlC₂ composites containing MAX phases exhibited excellent chemical nuclease activity, and it was determined that Nb₂AlC caused double strand DNA cleavage activity while Mo₃AlC₂ induced the complete fragmentation of the DNA molecule. Biofilm inhibition of Nb₂AlC and Mo₃AlC₂ MAX phases was studied against Staphylococcus aureus, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa and the maximum biofilm inhibition of Nb₂AlC and Mo₃AlC₂ MAX phases was found to be 77.15 % and 69.07 % against S. aureus and also 69.74 % and 65.01 % against P. aeruginosa. Furthermore, Nb₂AlC and Mo₃AlC₂ MAX phases demonstrated excellent E. coli growth inhibition of 100 % at 125 and 250 mg/L.