Exploring the effect of organic–inorganic additives loaded on modified polyethersulfone membranes

ABSTRACT In this work, a novel modified polyethersulfone (PES) membrane was made by blending PES with organic biomolecules which were N 1 , N 4 ‐bis(4‐sulfamoylphenyl)terephthalamide (SF), and N 1 , N 4 ‐bis[4‐( N ‐(5‐methylisoxazol‐3‐yl)sulfamoyl)phenyl]terephthalamide (SZ) to afford PES‐SF and PES‐SZ membranes. Antifouling properties of these modified membranes were examined against different types of bacteria and a fungus as well as by measuring the contact angle. The results showed the addition of these organic additives to PES membranes did not improve the hydrophilicity and exhibit any microbial activity. Thus, Cu 2 O nanoparticles were used with different concentrations to afford PES‐SF‐Cu 2 O and PES‐SZ‐Cu 2 O nanocomposites membranes. The results showed when Cu 2 O nanoparticles (3 wt %) was added to PES‐SF 3 and PES‐SZ 3 membranes, both membranes showed the best hydrophilicity with 67° for PES‐SF 3 ‐Cu 2 O membrane and 77° for PES‐SZ 3 ‐Cu 2 O membranes. PES‐SF 3 ‐Cu 2 O and PES‐SZ 3 ‐Cu 2 O membranes showed antibacterial against Pseudomonas aeruginosa , Escherichia coli , and Staphylococcus aureus . To evaluate the anticoagulant activity of the PES‐SF and PES‐SZ membranes, the clotting times using the activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) and prothrombin time (PT) were measured. The results showed PT level was prolonged for the pure PES membrane with 13 s and for PES‐SF 1 membrane with 12.4 s while the PES‐SZ 1 membrane showed no difference from the control (pure plasma). Contrary to the PT factor, APTT level of the PES‐SF membrane showed the longest time with 43 s. The results of APPT and PT seemed somewhat satisfactory for the PES‐SF while the PES‐SZ membrane did not show any difference from the control sample. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136 , 47686.