High-performance polyether sulfone (PES) membranes modified with sunflower seed shell-derived activated carbon...

This study investigates the impact of incorporating a novel composite filler on the antibiotic removal efficiency and protein fouling resistance of polyether sulfone (PES) membranes. The filler was synthesized from activated carbon derived from sunflower seed shells (SSAC) and modified with zeolitic imidazolate framework-11 (ZIF-11). The adsorption capacities of the composite for two model antibiotics, tetracycline (TC) and rifampicin (RP), were evaluated. Mixed matrix membranes were fabricated using the phase inversion method with varying SSAC@ZIF-11 contents (0.2-1 wt%). The membrane containing 0.8 wt% SSAC@ZIF-11 exhibited improved structural and surface characteristics, including increased porosity, larger pore size, smoother morphology, and enhanced hydrophilicity, as reflected by a reduction in contact angle from 60.72° to 46.45°. At this optimal loading, the pure water flux increased significantly from 10.52 to 39.1 L/m²h. Moreover, the modified membrane demonstrated outstanding removal efficiencies for TC (99.12 %) and RP (89.9 %), alongside excellent antifouling performance, as indicated by a flux recovery ratio increase from 42.85 % to 99.74 %. These results confirm the potential of SSAC@ZIF-11 as an effective nanofiller for developing high-performance PES membranes in advanced water purification applications.