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In order to solve the problems of poor mechanical property, non-antibacterial and low flux of calcium alginate (CaAlg) membrane, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were synthesized with bovine serum albumin (BSA) and carboxymethyl chitosan (CMCS) for improving CaAlg membrane in this paper. Meanwhile, the dispersion property of silver nanoparticles and the mechanical property, thermal stability, antibacterial property and filtration efficiency of the composite membrane were explored. The results illustrated CMCS observably strengthened the mechanical property and thermal stability of the composite membrane, and AgNPs endowed the composite membrane with excellent antibacterial property. The flux of the BSA/CMCS/AgNPs/CaAlg composite membrane was raised compared to CaAlg membrane. Finally, the viscose fiber/polyethylene terephthalate fiber (VF-PET) nonwoven fabric was introduced as the support layer to further improve the filtration flux and mechanical property of the composite membrane. VF-PET/BSA/CMCS/AgNPs/CaAlg membrane had a rejection rate of over 99.0 % for dye molecules and <9.0 % for salt ions, while the flux maintained 38.5 L·m−2·h−1. Furthermore, VF-PET/BSA/CMCS/AgNPs/CaAlg membrane also had excellent separation effect on actual dye wastewater. The separation of dye and salt by the membrane mainly depended on the screening mechanism of membrane pore size, rather than adsorption. The composite membrane had an outstanding performance on the separation of dye molecules and inorganic salt ions. [Display omitted] • Stable and uniformly dispersed BSA/CMCS/AgNPs was prepared. • BSA/CMCS/AgNPs/CaAlg membrane showed high mechanical property and excellent antibacterial property. • BSA/CMCS/AgNPs/CaAlg membrane had excellent separation efficiency of dye/salt. • Nonwovens with hydrophilic and hydrophobic sides improved the membrane flux and was expected to industrialize the membrane. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]