Recycling the High-Salinity Textile Wastewater by Quercetin-Based Nanofiltration Membranes with Minimal Water and Energy Consumption.

Effective recovery of dyes and salts from textile wastewater by nanofiltration (NF) remains a serious challenge due to the high consumption of water and energy caused by the limited performance of the available membranes. Herein, a novel strategy is described to prepare loose polyester NF membranes by using renewable quercetin as the aqueous monomer for fractionation of high salinity textile wastewater with minimal water and energy consumption. Compared with NF270, taken as the reference membrane, the QE-0.2/TMC-0.2 membrane significantly improved the efficiency for dye/salt fractionation by 288%. The water consumption was also decreased by 42.9%. The efficiency is attributed to an ultrahigh water permeance of 198 ± 2.1 L-1 m-2 h-1 bar-1 with a high selectivity of 123 (extremely low NaCl rejection of 1.6% and high Congo red rejection of 99.2%). The optimal quercetin-based membrane had an ultrathin separation layer of about 39 ± 1.2 nm with good hydrophilicity and negative charge density. Moreover, this work includes a novel method of comparison with a theoretically ideal membrane, which shows that both the energy and water consumption are near their theoretical minimum. This strategy is expected to save energy and minimize carbon emissions for membrane-based wastewater treatment systems.

Mechanistic Insights of a Thermoresponsive Interface for Fouling Control of Thin-Film Composite Nanofiltration Membranes.

In spite of extensive research, fouling is still the main challenge for nanofiltration membranes, generating an extra transport resistance and requiring a larger operational pressure in practical applications. We fabricated a highly antifouling nanofiltration membrane by grafting poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) chains on a bromine-containing polyamide layer. The resulting membrane was found to have a double permeance compared to the pristine membrane, while the rejection of multivalent ions remained the same. In addition, PNIPAM chains yielded a better deposition resistance and adhesion resistance, thereby mitigating the increase of fouling and promoting the recovery of flux during the filtration and traditional cleaning stages, respectively. Moreover, PNIPAM chains shrank when the water temperature was above the lower critical solution temperature (LCST), indicating the formation of a buffer layer between the membrane and pollutants. The buffer layer would eliminate the membrane-foulant interaction energy, thus further enhancing the detachment of pollutants. This simple and efficient cleaning method could act as an enhanced cleaning procedure to remove irreversible fouling. This provides new insights into the fabrication of enhanced antifouling membranes using smart responsive polymer chains.

Investigation of Interaction between the Spike Protein of SARS-CoV-2 and ACE2-Expressing Cells Using an In Vitro Cell Capturing System.

BACKGROUND: The Interaction between severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike protein with Angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) on the host cells is a crucial step for the viral entry and infection. Therefore, investigating the molecular mechanism underlying the interaction is of great importance for the prevention of the infection of SARS-CoV-2. In this study, we aimed to establish a virus-free in vitro system to study the interaction between the spike protein and host cells of SARS-CoV-2. RESULTS: Our results show that ACE2-overexpressing HEK293T cells are captured by immobilized spike S1 protein, and the cell capturing process can be inhibited by the receptor binding domain of the spike protein or antibodies against S protein. Furthermore, spike S1 protein variant with D614G mutant show a higher cell capturing ability than wild type spike S1 protein and stronger binding capacity of its receptor ACE2. In addition, the captured cells can be eluted as living cells for further investigation. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides a new in vitro system for investigating the interaction between SARS-CoV-2 and host cells and purifying ACE2-expressing cells.

Donor-Acceptor Conjugated Heptazine Polymers with Highly Efficient Photocatalytic Degradations towards Tetracyclines.

Photocatalysis is an efficient and green technology in the environmental protection. Due to the high charge separation and transfer, donor-acceptor (D-A) conjugated polymers attract much attention for their photocatalytic degradations towards organic pollutants. Herein, the authors reported three novel D-A conjugated polymers, named as HPBP, HPTP, and HPF, with heptazine moieties as electron acceptors, while biphenyl, terphenyl, or fluorene moieties as electron donors, respectively, which indeed exhibit a highly efficient photocatalytic degradation towards tetracyclines upon the visible-light irradiation. Among them, the photocatalytic performance of HPF is especially noticeable with the degradation rate up to 87% within 30 min, almost 11 times in comparison to those of pristine g-C3 N4 , which is mainly attributed to its high crystallinity and conjugation. For their photocatalytic mechanism, the •O2 - radical anions are regarded as the active species.

A Facile and Scalable Fabrication Procedure for Thin-Film Composite Membranes: Integration of Phase Inversion and Interfacial Polymerization.

Conventional dense thin-film composite (TFC) membranes evince a universally low water permeability, the increase of which typically relies on introducing additional transport channels based on intricate steps within a membrane preparation process. In this study, we reported a novel and simplified procedure for the fabrication of high-performance TFC membranes. Specifically, the dissolution of aqueous monomers in the casting solution was utilized for the following interfacial polymerization (IP). Since the monomers diffused to the water bath during phase inversion, the control of precipitation time enabled an effective regulation of the monomer concentration in the formed polymeric substrates, where the IP reaction was initiated by the addition of the organic phase. The entire and uniform embedment of aqueous monomers inside the substrates contributed to the formation of ultrathin and smooth selective layers. An excellent separation performance (i.e., water permeability: 34.7 L m-2 h-1 bar-1; Na2SO4 rejection: ∼96%) could be attained using two types of aqueous monomers (i.e., piperazine and ß-cyclodextrin), demonstrating the effectiveness and universality of this method. Compared to the conventional immersion-based process, this novel procedure shows distinct advantages in reducing monomer usage, shortening the production cycle, and achieving a more superior membrane performance, which is highly promising for large-scale membrane manufacture.

HLA class II allele DRB1*16:02 is associated with anti-NMDAR encephalitis.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Aetiology and pathogenesis of anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (anti-NMDAR) encephalitis, the most common autoimmune encephalitis, is largely unknown. Since an association of the disease with the human leucocyte antigen (HLA) has not been shown so far, we here investigated whether anti-NMDAR encephalitis is associated with the HLA locus. METHODS: HLA loci of 61 patients with anti-NMDAR encephalitis and 571 healthy controls from the Chinese Han population were genotyped and analysed for this study. RESULTS: Our results show that the DRB1*16:02 allele is associated with anti-NMDAR encephalitis (OR 3.416, 95% CI 1.817 to 6.174, p=8.9×10-5, padj=0.021), with a higher allele frequency in patients (14.75%) than in controls (4.82%). This association was found to be independent of tumour formation. Besides disease susceptibility, DRB1*16:02 is also related to the clinical outcome of patients during treatment, where patients with DRB1*16:02 showed a lower therapeutic response to the treatment than patients with other HLA alleles (p=0.033). Bioinformatic analysis using HLA peptide-binding prediction algorithms and computational docking suggested a close relationship between the NR1 subunit of NMDAR and the DRB1*16:02. CONCLUSIONS: This study for the first time demonstrates an association between specific HLA class II alleles and anti-NMDAR encephalitis, providing novel insights into the pathomechanism of the disease.

Two-dimensional Au-1,3,5 triethynylbenzene organometallic lattice: Structure, half-metallicity, and gas sensing.

On the basis of first-principles calculations, we investigated the structural and electronic properties of the two-dimensional (2D) Au-1,3,5 triethynylbenzene (Au-TEB) framework, which has been recently synthesized by homocoupling reactions in experiments. Featured by the C-Au-C linkage, the 2D Au-TEB network has a kagome lattice by Au atoms and a hexagonal lattice by organic molecules within the same metal-organic framework (MOF), which exhibits intrinsic half-metallicity with one spin channel metallic and the other spin channel fully insulating with a large energy gap of 2.8 eV. Two branches of kagome bands are located near the Fermi level, with each branch including one flat band and two Dirac bands, which originates from the out-of-plane dxz and dyz orbitals of Au and may lead to many exotic topological quantum phases. We further studied the adsorption of F atoms, Cl atoms, and small gas molecules including O2, CO, NO2, and NH3 on the Au-TEB network, aiming to exploit its potential applications in gas sensors. Detailed analyses on adsorption geometry, energy, molecular orbital interaction, and electronic structure modification suggest the great potential of Au-TEP as a promising alternative for gas sensing. We expect these results to expand the universe of low-dimensional half-metallic MOF structures and shed new light on their practical applications in nanoelectronics/spintronics.

CD11b-deficient mice exhibit an increased severity in the late phase of antibody transfer-induced experimental epidermolysis bullosa acquisita.

CD11b, the α-chain of ß2 integrin Mac-1, is involved in many activation processes of phagocytes. Depending on the respective autoimmune disorder, CD11b has been shown to exert pro-inflammatory functions or be dispensable in their pathogenesis. Here, we investigated the role of CD11b in the pathogenesis of experimental epidermolysis bullosa acquisita (EBA), an autoimmune skin blistering disease mediated by autoantibodies to type VII collagen. Unexpectedly, in an antibody transfer-induced model of EBA, CD11b-deficient mice developed more severe disease symptoms than wild-type mice in the late phase of the disease. Furthermore, as compared to wild-type controls, CD11b-deficient mice expressed increased levels of circulating IFN-γ and IL-4. Taken together, for the first time, our results suggest an anti-inflammatory role for CD11b in experimental autoimmune diseases.

Ionic Self-Assembled Derivative of Tetraphenylethylene: Synthesis, Enhanced Solid-State Emission, Liquid-Crystalline Structure, and Cu2+ Detection Ability.

A novel tetraphenylethylene complex composed of 4',4'',4''',4''''-(ethene-1,1,2,2-tetrayl)tetrabiphenyl-4-carboxylic acid (H4 ETTC) and dimethyldioctadecylammonium bromide (DOAB) with enhanced solid-state emission is designed and synthesized through an ionic self-assembly (ISA) strategy. The aggregation-induced emission property, phase behavior, and supramolecular structure of the complex are characterized by a combination of experimental measurements. The experimental results reveal that the ISA complex can self-assemble into an ordered helical supramolecular structure with enhanced luminescent properties, although the ETTC cores possess extensive conjugation and high rigidity. Due to the prolonged conjugation length, the fluorescence quantum yield of ETTC-DOAB is boosted to 66 %. Moreover, it is demonstrated that assemblies of the ISA complex are an effective sensor for Cu2+ . Owing to the disassembly modulation of ETTC-DOAB aggregations, the fluorescence emission of the assemblies can be selectively and sensitively quenched by Cu2+ , with a detection limit as low as 12.6 nm. The enhanced emission efficiency, in combination with the liquid crystallinity and superior sensing performance to Cu2+ , make the ETTC-DOAB complex a potential candidate for the fabrication of a luminescent device and chemosensor for Cu2+ detection.

Fractionation and Concentration of High-Salinity Textile Wastewater using an Ultra-Permeable Sulfonated Thin-film Composite.

A sulfonated thin-film composite (TFC) nanofiltration membrane was fabricated using 2,2'-benzidinedisulfonic acid (BDSA) and trimesoyl chloride (TMC) on a polyether sulfone substrate by conventional interfacial polymerization. Due to a nascent barrier layer with a loose architecture, the obtained TFC-BDSA-0.2 membrane showed an ultrahigh pure water permeability of 48.1 ± 2.1 L-1 m-2 h-1 bar-1, and a considerably low NaCl retention ability of <1.8% over a concentration range of 10-100 g L-1. The membrane, which possesses a negatively charged surface, displayed an excellent rejection of over 99% toward Congo red (CR) and allowed the fast fractionation of high-salinity textile wastewater. The prepared membrane required only 3-fold water addition to accomplish the separation of multiple components, whereas the commercial NF270 (Dow) membrane required 4-fold water addition and almost double the length of time. Furthermore, the TFC-BDSA-0.2 membrane was subsequently tested for the dye concentration process. It maintained a high flux of 8.2 L-1 m-2 h-1 bar-1 and a negligible dye loss, even when the concentration factor reached ∼10. Finally, by using a 20% alcohol solution as a back-washing medium, a flux recovery ratio (FRR) of 95.6% was achieved with TFC-BDSA-0.2, and the CR rejection ability remained the same. These results prove the outstanding antifouling and solvent-resistant properties of the membrane.

The status of pulmonary fibrosis in systemic sclerosis is associated with IRF5, STAT4, IRAK1, and CTGF polymorphisms.

Pulmonary fibrosis (PF) is one of the leading causes of death in systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients. Although all SSc patients are characterized by autoimmunity, only part of them suffer from PF, suggesting that beside autoimmunity, some additional factors are involved in the initiation of PF in SSc. In this study, we aimed to identify genetic polymorphisms associated with the status of PF in SSc. We performed that an exhaustive search of the PubMed database was performed to identify eligible studies. Then, a comprehensive meta-analysis was performed by comparing PF+-SSc and PF--SSc patients to identify genetic polymorphisms associated with the status of PF in SSc. Among eight SSc-associated susceptibility polymorphisms which were applied for meta-analysis, IRF5 rs2004640 polymorphism (OR 1.12; 95% CI 1.02-1.22, P = 1.39 × 10-2), STAT4 rs7574865 polymorphism (OR 1.25; 95% CI 1.07-1.47, P = 5.3 × 10-3), IRAK1 rs1059702 polymorphism (OR 1.20; 95% CI 1.05-1.37, P = 0.007), and CTGF G-945C polymorphism (OR 1.42; 95% CI 1.18-1.71, P = 0.002) are associated with PF status in SSc, while TNFAIP3 rs5029939, CD226 rs763361, CD247 rs2056626, and IRF5 rs10488631 polymorphisms are not. Since IRF5, STAT4, and IRAK1 are important regulatory factors in the control of innate immune responses and CTGF is involved in the synthesis of extracellular matrix, these results suggest a role of the innate immunity and matrix compounds in the pathogenesis of PF in SSc.

The amino acid variation within the binding pocket 7 and 9 of HLA-DRB1 molecules are associated with primary Sjögren's syndrome.

Primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) is associated with HLA-DRB1 loci, but the association of amino acid variations in the hypervariable region of the HLA-DR ß1 chain with pSS is largely unknown. In this study, we aimed to identify the amino acid variations within the hypervariable region of HLA-DRB1 molecule which are associated with the susceptibility to pSS. We sequenced the 2nd exon of the HLA-DRB1 locus in 52 pSS patients and 179 controls. The HLA-DRB1*0803 is the allele that shows the strongest association with pSS in Chinese population (OR = 3.0, P = 2.4 × 10(-4)). Furthermore, amino acid variations within the binding pocket P7 and P9 are associated with the susceptibility to pSS. An interaction between two residues within P7, ß47 and ß67, is associated with pSS. Structural modeling studies demonstrated that the electrostatics of peptide binding pocket 9 are opposite in pSS-susceptible and -protective HLA-DRB1 alleles. In conclusion, our results suggest that structural heterogeneity of the HLA-DRB1 peptide binding pocket P7 and P9 might play a role in the pathogenesis of pSS.

A blood-based 3-gene signature score for therapeutic monitoring in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the validity of Xpert Tuberculosis Fingerstick score for monitoring treatment response and analyze factors influencing its performance. METHODS: 122 adults with pulmonary tuberculosis were recruited and stratified into three cohorts: Diabetic-drug-susceptible-TB (DM-TB), Non-diabetic-drug-susceptible-TB (NDM-TB) and Non-diabetic Multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB). Fingerstick blood specimens were tested at treatment initiation (M0) and the end of the first (M1), second (M2), and sixth month (M6) to generate a TB-score. RESULTS: The TB-score in all participants yielded an AUC of 0.707 (95% CI: 0.579-0.834) at M2 when its performance was evaluated against sputum culture conversion. In all non-diabetes patients, the AUC reached 0.88 (95% CI: 0.756-1.000) with an optimal cut-off value of 1.95 at which sensitivity was 90.0% (95% CI: 59.6-98.2%) and specificity was 81.3% (95% CI: 70.0-88.9%). The mean TB score was higher in patients with low bacterial loads (n = 31) than those with high bacterial loads (n = 91) at M0, M1, M2, and M6, and was higher in non-cavitary patients (n = 71) than those with cavitary lesions (n = 51) at M0, M1, and M2. CONCLUSION: Xpert TB-score shows promising predictive value for culture conversion in non-diabetic TB patients. Sputum bacterial load and lung cavitation status have an influence on the value of TB score.

Polyphenol-mediated defect patching of graphene oxide membranes for sulfonamide contaminants removal and fouling control.

Graphene oxide (GO)-based laminar membranes are promising candidates for next-generation nanofiltration membranes because of their theoretically frictionless nanochannels. However, nonuniform stacking during the filtration process and the inherent swelling of GO nanosheets generate horizontal and vertical defects, leading to a low selectivity and susceptibility to pore blockage. Herein, both types of defects are simultaneously patching by utilizing tannic acid and FeⅢ. Tannic acid first partially reduced the upper GO framework, and then coordinated with FeⅢ to form a metal-polyphenol network covering horizontal defects. Due to the enhanced steric hindrance, the resulting membrane exhibited a two-fold increase in sulfonamide contaminants exclusion compared to the pristine GO membrane. A non-significant reduction in permeance was observed. In terms of fouling control, shielding defects significantly alleviated the irreversible pore blockage of the membrane. Additionally, the hydrophilic metal-polyphenol network weakened the adhesion force between the membrane and foulants, thereby improving the reversibility of fouling in the cleaning stage. This work opens up a new way to develop GO-based membranes with enhanced separation performance and antifouling ability.

Tailoring properties and performance of thin-film composite membranes by salt additives for water treatment: A critical review.

During the fabrication of thin film composite (TFC) membranes by interfacial polymerization (IP), the utilization of salt additives is one of the effective methods to regulate membrane properties and performance. Despite gradually receiving widespread attention for membrane preparation, the strategies, effects and underlying mechanisms of using salt additives have not yet been systematically summarized. This review for the first time provides an overview of various salt additives used to tailor properties and performance of TFC membranes for water treatment. By classifying salt additives into organic and inorganic salts, the roles of added salt additives in the IP process and the induced changes in membrane structure and properties are discussed in detail, and the different mechanisms of salt additives affecting membrane formation are summarized. Based on these mechanisms, the salt-based regulation strategies have shown great potential for improving the performance and application competitiveness of TFC membranes, including overcoming the trade-off relationship between water permeability and salt selectivity, tailoring membrane pore size distribution for precise solute-solute separation, and enhancing membrane antifouling performance. Finally, future research directions are suggested to focus on the long-term stability assessment of salt-modified membranes, the combined use of different salt additives, and the integration of salt regulation with other membrane design or modification strategies.

Highly Sensitive and Selective DNA Sequencing Device Using Metal Adatom Adsorption on 2D Phosphorene.

Two-dimensional (2D) material revolutionarily extends the technique capability of traditional nanopore/nanogap-based DNA sequencing devices. However, challenges associated with DNA sequencing on nanopores still remained in improving the sensitivity and specificity. Herein, by first-principles calculation, we theoretically studied the potential of transition-metal elements (Cr, Fe, Co, Ni, and Au) anchored on monolayer black phosphorene (BP) to act as all-electronic DNA sequencing devices. The spin-polarized band structures appeared in Cr-, Fe-, Co-, and Au-doped BP. Remarkably, the adsorption energy of nucleobases can be significantly enhanced on BP with Co, Fe, and Cr doping, which contribute to the enlarged current signal and lower noise levels. Furthermore, the order of nucleobases in terms of their adsorption energies onto the Cr@BP is C > A > G > T, which exhibits more distinct adsorption energies than Fe@BP or Co@BP. Therefore, Cr-doped BP is more effective to avoid ambiguity in recognizing various bases. We thus envisaged a possibility of a highly sensitive and selective DNA sequencing device based on phosphorene.

microRNA-122 stimulates translation of hepatitis C virus RNA.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a positive strand RNA virus that propagates primarily in the liver. We show here that the liver-specific microRNA-122 (miR-122), a member of a class of small cellular RNAs that mediate post-transcriptional gene regulation usually by repressing the translation of mRNAs through interaction with their 3'-untranslated regions (UTRs), stimulates the translation of HCV. Sequestration of miR-122 in liver cell lines strongly reduces HCV translation, whereas addition of miR-122 stimulates HCV translation in liver cell lines as well as in the non-liver HeLa cells and in rabbit reticulocyte lysate. The stimulation is conferred by direct interaction of miR-122 with two target sites in the 5'-UTR of the HCV genome. With a replication-defective NS5B polymerase mutant genome, we show that the translation stimulation is independent of viral RNA synthesis. miR-122 stimulates HCV translation by enhancing the association of ribosomes with the viral RNA at an early initiation stage. In conclusion, the liver-specific miR-122 may contribute to HCV liver tropism at the level of translation.

A Promising High-Entropy Thermal Barrier Material with the Formula (Y0.2Dy0.2Ho0.2Er0.2Yb0.2)3Al5O12.

YSZ has been widely used as a TBC material, but its phase change at high temperatures limits its development, thus the need for developing new thermal barrier materials resistant to high temperatures. Rare-earth aluminate ceramics with a garnet structure (Yb3Al5O12) have been considered as a potential thermal barrier material. The melting point of Yb3Al5O12 is 2000 °C, which has a potential high temperature application prospect. However, Yb3Al5O12 has lower thermal expansion and higher thermal conductivity than YSZ, which is a widely employed thermal barrier coating (TBC) material. To overcome these obstacles, (Y0.2Dy0.2Ho0.2Er0.2Yb0.2)3Al5O12, a high-entropy ceramic, was prepared by a solid-state reaction and pressureless sintering. The thermal conductivity of the (Y0.2Dy0.2Ho0.2Er0.2Yb0.2)3Al5O12 was 3.48 W/(m·K) at 300 K, approximately 25.48% lower than that of the Yb3Al5O12 (4.67 W/(m·K)). The thermal expansion coefficient of the (Y0.2Dy0.2Ho0.2Er0.2Yb0.2)3Al5O12 was 9.28 × 10-6 K-1 at 673-1273 K, approximately 18.52% higher than that of the Yb3Al5O12 (7.83 × 10-6 K-1, 673-1273 K). When the (Y0.2Dy0.2Ho0.2Er0.2Yb0.2)3Al5O12 was annealed at 1550 °C for 7 days, its average grain size only increased from 0.7 µm to 1.3 µm. Moreover, the (Y0.2Dy0.2Ho0.2Er0.2Yb0.2)3Al5O12 exhibited better chemical stability and a lower grain growth rate than the Yb3Al5O12. This study reveals that (Y0.2Dy0.2Ho0.2Er0.2Yb0.2)3Al5O12 is a promising candidate for the future generation of thermal barrier materials.

Pediatric isoniazid-resistant tuberculosis of the bone marrow manifesting as hemophagocytic syndrome: A case report.

Hemophagocytic syndrome (HPS) is a critical syndrome of ineffective hyperinflammatory immune response resulting in infiltration of lymphocytes and histiocytes in various organs. Causes can be hereditary or due to malignancy, autoimmune disease, or infection. HPS due to Mycobacterium tuberculosis is rare as only a handful of cases are reported, and they are mostly associated with severe disseminated tuberculosis (TB). We reported a 9-year-old boy with tuberculosis of the bone marrow accompanied with hemophagocytic syndrome. The patient presented with manifestation of HPS and had no respiratory symptoms or risk factors for TB but was later diagnosed of isoniazid-resistant TB in the bone marrow. He had a good outcome after receiving anti-TB drugs and corticosteroids on time. This case highlights that bone marrow might be a shelter for Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Concurrent testing for drug susceptibility in TB cases with an uncommon manifestation is recommended even for first episodes. Early diagnosis and etiological confirmation of the infection origin and appropriate treatment are essential to improve survival in this otherwise life-threatening condition.

A PEI/TMC membrane modified with an ionic liquid with enhanced permeability and antibacterial properties for the removal of heavy metal ions.

Heavy metal ions in drinking water severely threaten public health in various places worldwide. Nanofiltration (NF) membrane technology is an attractive option for heavy metal ions removal; however, improving NF membrane filtration performance is required to make their industrial application viable. In this study, a positively charged THPC/PEI-TMC NF membrane was designed via simple one-step incorporation of Tetrakis (hydroxymethyl) phosphonium chloride (THPC) biocide on the surface of PEI-TMC membranes, significantly optimizing surface morphology, roughness, hydrophilicity, and zeta potential of PEI-TMC membranes. It was found that the pure water permeability (11.6 Lm-2h-1bar-1) of the THPC modified membrane was three times larger than that of the original PEI-TMC membrane (3.4 Lm-2h-1bar-1) while maintaining a high level of ion rejections (around 95% for Zn2+, Cd2+, Ni2+, Cu2+ and about 90% for Pb2+). Additionally, the incorporation of the THPC on the original PEI-TMC membrane surface also conferred good antibacterial properties, which protect the organic membrane from bacterial growth and prolong the lifespan of the membrane.