Polymeric reverse osmosis (RO) membranes are critical for producing ultrapure water for hemodialysis process, but once they reach their end-of-life (EoL) stage, mainly due to fouling, they are usually discarded—adding to the growing challenges of medical waste management. This study explores a sustainable alternative by rehabilitating EoL thin-film composite (TFC) membrane and its reuse in recovery of spent dialysate. Using different cleaning agents that included citric acid (CA), EDTA, sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), the mixture of CA and SLS (1:1) exhibited the most effective combination for balanced flux recovery, salt rejection, and creatinine clearance at lower TMP, achieving 90% conductivity reduction, 46.89 L/m²/h water flux, and 1.24 L/m²/h/bar permeance. FTIR, SEM, and EDX results confirmed the removal of both organic and inorganic foulants, while further process optimization revealed the critical role of cleaning temperature, SLS ratio and pressure on water permeability and improving creatinine removal. Under the optimal operational conditions, 99.89% creatinine removal, while restoring up to 80% hydraulic performance, yielding water flux and permeance of 59.36 L/m²/h and 1.79 L/m²/h/bar, respectively. These findings suggest that reduced dialysate production costs and minimize environmental impact can be significantly, achieved by extending the useful life of dialysate membranes, thereby opening a pathway toward implementing closed-loop water management and circular economy practices at dialysis centers.

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.

Background/Objectives: The widespread presence of antimicrobial-resistant pharmaceutical contaminants in wastewater poses serious ecological and public health risks and remains difficult to address using conventional treatment technologies. Moreover, remediation strategies often involve overlooked environmental burdens, highlighting the need for technologies that are both efficient and environmentally sustainable. This study developed a novel GO/ZIF-60/CoNiAl -LTH (GO/ZIF-60/LTH) ternary nanocomposite adsorbent for removal of ciprofloxacin (CIP) from water matrixes while evaluating its environmental implications using Life cycle assessment (LCA). Methods: The adsorbent was synthesized by integrating graphene oxide (GO) and Ni–Al–Co layered triple hydroxide (LTH) into a ZIF-60 framework. Structural and surface characterization was conducted using XRD, FTIR, SEM–EDX, BET, and UV–Vis analyses. The adsorbent’s CIP aqueous uptake was evaluated through batch experiments supported by kinetic, isotherm, thermodynamic, and response surface methodology (RSM) analyses. Environmental performance was assessed through life cycle-based evaluation. Results: The composite achieved a maximum adsorption capacity of 291 mg g⁻¹ and 91.6% removal efficiency with adsorption following pseudo-first-order kinetics and the Freundlich isotherm. The process was spontaneous and exothermic, with 75% efficiency retained after three regeneration cycles. The LCA revealed an overall global warming impact of 0.953 kg CO₂ eq per functional unit, with the NiAlCo-LTH synthesis stage (1.04 kg CO₂ eq) as the dominant hotspot, followed by final composite formation stage (0.66 kg CO₂ eq). Adsorption and regeneration provided credits (−0.336 and −0.513 kg CO₂ eq), offsetting the upstream impacts. Conclusions: The study demonstrates a new MOF–GO–LTH hybrid adsorbent with high CIP removal efficiency combined with its environmental sustainability assessment, providing a more comprehensive basis for adsorbent evaluation. Although the NiAlCo-LTH component was primarily responsible for the enhanced adsorption performance, yet, it also constituted the major environmental hotspot during its synthesis. These findings highlight the relevance of trade-off between functionality and environmental burden for process optimization, cleaner production, and the sustainable development of advanced adsorbents for pharmaceutical-contaminated water treatment.