Polyethersulfone Membranes Modified With 2D Mxene-Cuo Nanocomposites for Protein Rejection and Investigation of Antimicrobial Properties

Abstract

This study examines the effects of incorporating three MXene-CuO nanocomposites – Ti3C2Tx/CuO, V2CTx/CuO and Nb2CTx/CuO- into polyethersulfone (PES) membranes. The study aims to enhance the antifouling and permeation properties of PES membranes for bovine serum albumin (BSA) filtration. The experimental design involved adding each MXene-based composites to PES membranes at a fixed concentration of 1 %. These composite membranes were then evaluated using a dead-end filtration system. Their performance was compared to that of a control membrane composed of pure PES without any MXene-based nanocomposites. The results revealed significant improvements in BSA rejection efficiency. The pristine PES membrane achieved a rejection rate of 61.42 %, while the three composite membranes containing MXene-based nanocomposites showed complete BSA rejection, achieving 100 % removal efficiency. The synthesized MXene-based nanocomposites were also assessed for in vitro antioxidant, antidiabetic, DNA nuclease, antibiofilm and antimicrobial activities. V2CTx/CuO exhibited 90.27 % antioxidant activity. Antidiabetic activity of V2CTx/CuO and Ti3C2Tx/CuO was achieved as 86.42 % and 96.46 %. All compounds caused single-strand DNA cleavage at 50 and 100 mg/L doses and double-strand cleavage caused at 200 mg/L dose. The low MIC values obtained revealed that the compounds presented effective antibacterial properties. V2CTx/CuO, Nb2CTx/CuO and Ti3C2Tx/CuO was also displayed influential microbial growth inhibition as 82.79 %, 98.62 % and 100 %, respectively. The highest antibiofilm activity against S. aureus and P. aeruginosa for V2CTx/CuO, Nb2CTx/CuO and Ti3C2Tx/CuO was 71.25 % and 56.85 %; 87.91 % and 69.16 %; and 92.55 % and 84.22 %, respectively. It was also found that the antimicrobial surface of PES membrane doped with 1 % V2CTx/CuO, Nb2CTx/CuO and Ti3C2Tx/CuO displayed 72.58 %, 84.62 %, and 95.49 % antibacterial ability, respectively. © 2025 Elsevier B.V.