Boosting antibiotics separation performance of thin-film composite nanofiltration membranes via nanotube-intercalated nanosheet interlayer on a macro-porous substrate
writer：L Y Wang, L Du, Y T Yang,L L Hu, H Yang, Z Zhai,X T Li, S F Zhao,Y C Zhao, Y Huang*
keywords：Nanofiltration; PTFE porous substrate; Interlayer Intercalated structure; Antibiotic separation
source：期刊
Issue time：2026年
Nanofiltration (NF) has demonstrated considerable environmental sustainability potential in the separation and desalination of antibiotics. Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membranes possess exceptional chemical stability, thereby offering distinct advantages as substrate for fabricating highly robust NF membranes, particularly those intended for application under complex separation conditions. Nevertheless, the development of a defect-free polyamide (PA) selective layer on a macro-porous PTFE substrate remains challenging. Herein, a carbon nanotube (CNT) intercalated graphene oxide (GO) (CNT-i-GO) interlayer, crosslinked with ethylenediamine (EDA), was constructed to address this challenge. Notably, the CNT-i-GO interlayer enabled precise tuning of the pore structure and surface properties of the PTFE substrate, while suppressing the downward growth of the PA layer, thereby facilitating the formation of a uniform and defect-free PA layer. The fabricated PA/CNT-i-GO/PTFE NF membrane exhibited enhanced antibiotic separation performance, achieving a water permeance of 26.1 L·m?2·h?1·bar?1 with 96.4% tetracycline (TC) rejection, along with excellent stability over a broad range of operational conditions. Furthermore, the membrane exhibited favorable NaCl/TC selectivity, maintaining a value of 20.5 under high-salinity conditions (10 g·L?1). This study offers valuable insights into the development of high-performance NF membranes for practical antibiotic separation and desalination in pharmaceutical industry.