Chemo-Ultrasonication Rehabilitation of Thin-Film Composite Ultrapure Water Membrane for Spent Dialysate Recovery

The ever-increasing number of discarded end-of-life dialysate polyamide thin-film composite membranes (DEoLMs) from presents both environmental and economic challenges for health centers. Traditional thermo-chemical cleaning techniques have been deployed for the rehabilitation of DEoLMs. This study further investigated the application of chemo-ultrasonication rehabilitation of dialysate-production-related DEoLM for potential reuse in spent dialysate recovery considering salt and creatinine—a typical uremic toxin-removal from water. The DEoLM was rehabilitated using low-concentration citric acid (CA) and sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) under ultrasonic waves (45 kHz, 30 min agitation). Considering different rehabilitation protocols, the synergistic effects of heating (HT) and the chemical agents, with and without and ultrasonic waves (SC) were evaluated through FTIR, SEM, and EDX analyses, and the performance of the rehabilitated DEoLM was assessed via water flux and permeance, and efficiencies for conductivity and creatinine rejection. The fully integrated protocol chemo-ultrasonication (HT + SC + chemical agents) yielded the highest performance, achieving 93.56% conductivity and 96.83% creatinine removal, with water flux of 113.48 L m⁻² h⁻¹ and permeances of 6.31 L m⁻² h⁻¹ bar⁻¹, at markedly reduced pressures. The chemo-sonic-rehabilitated-DEoLM removed the organic–inorganic foulants beyond thermo-chemical cleaning. This suggests that the sonication waves had a great impact regarding rejuvenating the fouled DEoL dialysate membrane, offering a sustainable, cost-effective pathway for extending membrane life, and supporting sustainable water management to achieve circular economy goals within healthcare centers.