Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering 8 (2020) 104454 Available online 9 September 2020 2213-3437/© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Anti-fouling polyethersulfone nanofltration membranes aided by amine-functionalized boron nitride nanosheets with improved separation performance Vahid Vatanpour a, *, Hamid Karimi b, c , Siamak Imanian Ghazanlou c , Yaghoub Mansourpanah d , Mohammad Reza Ganjali e, f, g, **, Alireza Badiei h , Ehsan Pourbashir i , Mohammad Reza Saeb f a Department of Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran b Central Chemistry Research Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, 16846-13114, Iran c Nano Material Laboratory, School of Advanced Technologies, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, 16846-13114, Iran d Membrane Research Laboratory, Lorestan University, Khorramabad, 68137-17133, Iran e School of Resources and Environment, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, P.O. Box 611731, Xiyuan Ave, Chengdu, PR China f Center of Excellence in Electrochemistry, School of Chemistry, College of Science, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran g Biosensor Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Molecular-Cellular Sciences Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran h School of Chemistry, College of Science, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran i Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, P.O. Box 179, Ardabil, Iran A R T I C L E INFO Editor: Zhang Xiwang Keywords: Dye removal Mixed matrix membranes Amine-functionalized born nitride Anti-fouling Dye rejection ABSTRACT Nowadays, the implementation of a desirable membrane with high permeation and rejection properties in liquid and gas separation processes has become a competitive necessity in water purifcation and desalination. In this feld, nanostructured membranes have enticed many researchers and industrialists to use them. Herein, an amine-functionalized boron nitride (BN) embedded microporous polyethersulfone (AFBN-PES) membrane was fabricated to examine the anti-fouling properties and separation performance of mixed matrix membranes (MMMs). Also, fouling parameters such as intrinsic resistance (R m ), pore resistance (R p ), cake resistance (R c ), and total resistance (R t ) were investigated, and a signifcant improvement in the anti-fouling characteristics of the fabricated MMMs was detected. Surprisingly, water permeation across AFBN-PES membrane increased two-fold compared to the bare PES, while its BSA and Reactive Blue 19 dye rejection capability remained over 99 %. Faster solvent-nonsolvent exchange during the preparation of polymeric membrane owing to the presence of AFBN nanosheets enhanced the hydrophilicity, changed the mean pore size, and decreased the surface roughness beyond the creation of larger microvoids in the sub-layer of MMMs. 1. Introduction Various separation and purifcation processes such as evaporation, distillation, adsorption, extraction, and focculation are used for gas and liquid separation applications. Among these methods, polymeric mem- branes have attracted considerable attention due to their promising features like cost-effectiveness, low energy consumption, high eff- ciency, and simplicity of operation [1,2]. In the meanwhile, it is inevi- table to develop membranes with fne cavities and nanostructured morphology required for achieving a high separation effciency [3,4]. On the other hand, there have been some tips about polymeric mem- branes noticing the state-of-the-art production of membrane such as production of high fux, high fouling resistance and solvent resistant membranes [5]. Consequently, the manufacturers have improved the structural and chemical stability of the modern membrane to make them applicable in harsh conditions with an optimized thickness in terms of cost-effective performance, high permeation and anti-fouling, long life cycle, low operating temperature and pressure, good porosity, and non-infationary in organic solvents [6–10]. One of the most substantial parameters on membrane performance is * Corresponding author. ** Corresponding author at: School of Resources and Environment, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, P.O. Box 611731, Xiyuan Ave, Chengdu, PR China. E-mail addresses: vahidvatanpour@khu.ac.ir (V. Vatanpour), ganjali@ut.ac.ir (M.R. Ganjali). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jece https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jece.2020.104454 Received 8 July 2020; Received in revised form 26 August 2020; Accepted 29 August 2020