High-performance antibacterial tight ultrafiltration membrane constructed by co-deposition of dopamine and tobramycin for sustainable high-salinity textile wastewater management

High-salinity textile wastewater is a pressing environmental concern, urgently requiring the appropriate treatment. Sustainable management of high-salinity textile wastewater via fractionation of the existing dyes and inorganic salts (NaCl) using selective separation membranes is a key approach to address this detrimental concern. Herein, tight composite ultrafiltration membranes with impressive antibacterial function were constructed using one-step co-deposition of dopamine and tobramycin on the porous substrate to fractionate the dyes and NaCl. Triggered by ammonia persulfate, the polydopamine/tobramycin coating layer imparts the fabricated composite ultrafiltration membranes with tight surface structure and narrow pore size distribution, enabling effective dyes/salts fractionation. Specifically, the tight composite ultrafiltration membrane with a molecular weight cutoff of 3692 Da experienced a > 98.0 % rejection against various reactive dyes (molecular weight: 99.2 % NaCl transmission.•Tight UF membrane showed a robust stability in fractionation of dyes and salts.•Tight UF membrane yielded a 100 % inhibition efficiency against E. coli for mitigating the biofouling.