{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,28]],"date-time":"2026-07-28T04:59:50Z","timestamp":1785214790485,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":34,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,25]],"date-time":"2026-07-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1784937600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Membranes"],"abstract":"<jats:p>This study investigates the synergistic effects of compaction pressure and vapor-induced phase separation (VIPS) on the morphological, mechanical, and initial filtration properties of activated carbon\/polyethersulfone composite block membranes. Membranes were fabricated using varying compaction pressures (5 and 10 kg\/cm2) and VIPS exposure times (0 and 10 min) prior to direct non-solvent-induced phase separation (NIPS). Surface wettability analysis revealed that the optimized 50 wt.% activated carbon configurations were superhydrophilic (0\u00b0 water contact angle), exhibiting instantaneous fluid absorption driven by strong capillary forces within the highly hygroscopic matrix. Morphological and gravimetric evaluations demonstrated that minimizing compaction (5 kg\/cm2) and bypassing VIPS generated large macrovoids, resulting in the highest bulk internal porosity (61.05%) and maximum continuous gravity-driven water flux. Conversely, incorporating a 10-min VIPS exposure shifted the internal structure toward an interconnected sponge-like network. This structural transformation yielded the highest bovine serum albumin (BSA) rejection rate (12.97%) when paired with low pressure, as the network extended fluid residence time and maximized exposure to the activated carbon adsorption sites. Applying high compaction pressure (10 kg\/cm2) to VIPS-treated membranes induced excessive polymer encapsulation of the active particles, significantly reducing separation efficiency while concurrently maximizing initial uniaxial tensile strength. Ultimately, these findings establish a foundational and highly tunable framework, demonstrating that calibrating mechanical compression alongside phase inversion dynamics balances permeability, adsorptive selectivity, and inter-particle binding cohesion for composite block membranes.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/membranes16080254","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,27]],"date-time":"2026-07-27T05:49:27Z","timestamp":1785131367000},"page":"254","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Tuning the Permeability\u2013Selectivity Trade-Off in Activated Carbon\/PES Mixed Matrix Membranes via Compaction and Vapor-Induced Phase Separation"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0007-8980-779X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Asseghaf Bintang","family":"Ramadhani","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Advanced Technology and Multidiscipline, Universitas Airlangga, Jl. Dr. Ir. H. Soekarno Kampus C, Mulyorejo, Kec. Mulyorejo, Surabaya 60115, Jawa Timur, Indonesia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jason Nathanael","family":"Thionardo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Advanced Technology and Multidiscipline, Universitas Airlangga, Jl. Dr. Ir. H. Soekarno Kampus C, Mulyorejo, Kec. Mulyorejo, Surabaya 60115, Jawa Timur, Indonesia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Muhammad Mirza","family":"Rahardianto","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Advanced Technology and Multidiscipline, Universitas Airlangga, Jl. Dr. Ir. H. Soekarno Kampus C, Mulyorejo, Kec. Mulyorejo, Surabaya 60115, Jawa Timur, Indonesia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0006-6311-0532","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Annas Zakky","family":"Firmansyah","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Advanced Technology and Multidiscipline, Universitas Airlangga, Jl. Dr. Ir. H. Soekarno Kampus C, Mulyorejo, Kec. Mulyorejo, Surabaya 60115, Jawa Timur, Indonesia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0776-1721","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kartika Nur","family":"\u2018Anisa\u2019","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Advanced Technology and Multidiscipline, Universitas Airlangga, Jl. Dr. Ir. H. Soekarno Kampus C, Mulyorejo, Kec. Mulyorejo, Surabaya 60115, Jawa Timur, Indonesia"},{"name":"Research Group of Industrial Management, System Engineering & Manufacturing, Universitas Airlangga, Jl. Dr. Ir. H. Soekarno Kampus C, Mulyorejo, Kec. Mulyorejo, Surabaya 60115, Jawa Timur, Indonesia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Chandrawati Putri","family":"Wulandari","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Advanced Technology and Multidiscipline, Universitas Airlangga, Jl. Dr. Ir. H. Soekarno Kampus C, Mulyorejo, Kec. Mulyorejo, Surabaya 60115, Jawa Timur, Indonesia"},{"name":"Research Group of Industrial Management, System Engineering & Manufacturing, Universitas Airlangga, Jl. Dr. Ir. H. Soekarno Kampus C, Mulyorejo, Kec. Mulyorejo, Surabaya 60115, Jawa Timur, Indonesia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4704-3924","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Muslim","family":"Mahardika","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Jalan Grafika No. 2, Yogyakarta 55281, Indonesia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1541-2118","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yudan","family":"Whulanza","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Indonesia, Kampus UI, Depok 16425, Jawa Barat, Indonesia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ario Sunar","family":"Baskoro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Indonesia, Kampus UI, Depok 16425, Jawa Barat, Indonesia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Thanongsak","family":"Thepsonthi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Burapha University, 169 Longhard Bangsaen Beach Rd., Saensook, Muang, Chonburi 20131, Thailand"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1128-6556","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nor Hasrul Akhmal","family":"Ngadiman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor Bahru 81310, Johor, Malaysia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3709-2036","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Gunawan Setia","family":"Prihandana","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Advanced Technology and Multidiscipline, Universitas Airlangga, Jl. 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