The synthesis of antibacterial ZnO nanoparticle incorporated polyethersulfone (PES) membranes through green chemistry

TY - JOUR

T1 - The synthesis of antibacterial ZnO nanoparticle incorporated polyethersulfone (PES) membranes through green chemistry

AU - Dong, Yuhang

AU - Zhao, Qi

AU - Homaeigohar, Shahin

AU - Bridal, Helen

AU - Gronwald , Oliver

AU - Urban, Tobias

AU - Jones, Thomas

PY - 2026/2/9

Y1 - 2026/2/9

N2 - In conventional fabrication methods of polymer membranes, toxic solvents are widely used that result in significant water pollution, additionally, membrane function can be enhanced by the incorporation of nanoparticles (NP) to impart properties into them such as antimicrobial activity. To identify if a more environmentally friendly solvent can replace toxic solvents whilst enhancing membrane functionally by NPs, N,N-dimethyl lactamide (DML) was employed in the synthesis of polyethersulfone (PES) membranes and its performance was compared with the traditionally used toxic solvent of N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP). The successful synthesis of PES by DML and NMP with varying concentrations of Zinc Oxide (ZnO) NPs were achieved and were systematically characterized via different techniques to evaluate their structure, morphology, and performance. The results show that the DML-based PES–ZnO membranes exhibit a more uniform pore size distribution and higher porosity than the NMP-based PES membranes. Antibacterial tests further demonstrated that, at the same ZnO NPs concentration, the DML-based PES membrane offers a superior antimicrobial activity, highlighting DML to be a promising green chemical to replace NMP for sustainable synthesis of NP enhanced PES membranes.

AB - In conventional fabrication methods of polymer membranes, toxic solvents are widely used that result in significant water pollution, additionally, membrane function can be enhanced by the incorporation of nanoparticles (NP) to impart properties into them such as antimicrobial activity. To identify if a more environmentally friendly solvent can replace toxic solvents whilst enhancing membrane functionally by NPs, N,N-dimethyl lactamide (DML) was employed in the synthesis of polyethersulfone (PES) membranes and its performance was compared with the traditionally used toxic solvent of N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP). The successful synthesis of PES by DML and NMP with varying concentrations of Zinc Oxide (ZnO) NPs were achieved and were systematically characterized via different techniques to evaluate their structure, morphology, and performance. The results show that the DML-based PES–ZnO membranes exhibit a more uniform pore size distribution and higher porosity than the NMP-based PES membranes. Antibacterial tests further demonstrated that, at the same ZnO NPs concentration, the DML-based PES membrane offers a superior antimicrobial activity, highlighting DML to be a promising green chemical to replace NMP for sustainable synthesis of NP enhanced PES membranes.

KW - Polyethersulfone

KW - Zinc oxide

KW - N,N-dimethyl lactamide

KW - Antimicrobial

KW - Non-solvent induced phase separation

U2 - 10.1016/j.polymer.2026.129608

DO - 10.1016/j.polymer.2026.129608

M3 - Article

SN - 0032-3861

VL - 345

JO - Polymer

JF - Polymer

M1 - 129608

ER -