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Membranes
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Polymeric Membranes as Promising Pathways to Low-Carbon Future
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Polymeric Membranes as Promising Pathways to Low-Carbon Future

A special issue of Membranes (ISSN 2077-0375). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymeric Membranes".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2022) | Viewed by 2606

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Chakravarthy Gudipati

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Separation Technologies Applied research and translation Center (START), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Interests: membranes; polymers; water treatment; carbon capture; reverse osmosis; micro-, ultra-, and nanofiltration; pressure retarded osmosis
Dr. Sebastian Hernandez

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Separation Technologies Applied research and translation Center (START), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Interests: membranes; nanomaterials; polymers; separation processes; water treatment; surface functionalization; microfiltration and nanofiltration; reverse osmosis

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Polymeric membranes have played an integral role in addressing some of the most challenging environmental problems such as water treatment, gas separations, carbon capture, and energy harvesting. The role of polymeric membranes is increasingly significant and essential in further alleviating or eliminating emerging and persistent problems such as energy conservation, green energy production or global warming. Some critical examples include: (1) polymeric membranes and the variations therefrom, which facilitate CO2 separation at high permeance and high selectivity; (2)  osmotic (blue or green) energy harvesting though pressure-retarded osmosis processes, (3) proton exchange membranes for fuel cell applications or green hydrogen production, and (4) anion exchange membranes for green hydrogen production through electrolysis, to name a few. The current Special Issue, entitled “Polymeric Membranes as the Promising Pathways to Low-Carbon Future” will strive to highlight the latest developments in the field of polymeric membranes with deeper insights into materials, processes, and applications, specifically related to areas such as low energy consumption in membrane processes (including RO), energy harvesting, carbon emission reduction, and green energy production. 

We are pleased to invite you to submit your manuscript to this Special Issue of the Membranes journal.  We seek to publish original research work in areas of polymeric membrane application in the form of full papers, while critical reviews of the state of the art or communications/letters will also be considered contingent upon the significance of the content and preapproval from the editor of the Special Issue. 

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following: 

  • Membranes for gas separations (carbon capture, etc.);
  • Membranes for osmotic energy harvesting (PRO, RED, etc.);
  • Anion exchange membranes for green hydrogen production;
  • Proton exchange membranes for fuel cells or green hydrogen production;
  • Membranes for low energy consumption in desalination. 

I look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Chakravarthy Gudipati
Dr. Sebastian Hernandez
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Membranes is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Low energy desalination
  • Pressure retarded Osmosis
  • Carbon Capture
  • Green hydrogen
  • Electrolysis
  • Reverse Electrodialysis

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

14 pages, 2692 KiB  
Communication
Development and Industrial-Scale Fabrication of Next-Generation Low-Energy Membranes for Desalination
by Li May Goh, Zhiwei Thong, Weikun Paul Li, Shu Ting Ooi, Farhanah Esa, Kok Seng Ng, Adil Dhalla and Chakravarthy Gudipati
Membranes 2022, 12(5), 540; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes12050540 - 22 May 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2261
Abstract
Spiral-wound modules have been the most common configuration of packing flat-sheet membranes since the early development of polyamide (PA) membranes for water treatment applications. Conventional spiral-wound modules (SWMs) for desalination applications typically consist of several leaf sets, with each leaf set comprising feed [...] Read more.
Spiral-wound modules have been the most common configuration of packing flat-sheet membranes since the early development of polyamide (PA) membranes for water treatment applications. Conventional spiral-wound modules (SWMs) for desalination applications typically consist of several leaf sets, with each leaf set comprising feed spacers, membranes, and a permeate carrier (PC) wrapped around a permeate-collecting tube. The membrane area that can be packed into a given module diameter is limited by the overall leaf set thickness, restricting module productivity for a given membrane permeability. We describe here a novel industrial-scale method for successfully coating the polysulfone (PSf) ultrafiltration (UF) support layer directly onto a permeate carrier, instead of conventional non-woven fabric, as a precursor to the polyamide TFC coating, resulting in twofold benefits: (a) drastically simplifying the membrane fabrication process by eliminating the use of non-woven fabric and (b) increasing the throughput of each membrane module by facilitating the packing of a larger membrane area in a standard module housing. By combining the permeate carrier and membrane into a single sheet, the need for the non-woven support layer was eliminated, leading to a significantly reduced leaf set thickness, enabling a much larger membrane area to be packed in a given volume, leading to lower energy consumption per cubic meter of produced water. Molecular-weight cutoff (MWCO) values in the range of 36–96 kDa were found to be dependent on PC thickness and material. Nevertheless, the reinforced membranes were successfully fabricated with a ~9% reduction in membrane leaf thickness compared to a conventional membrane. Preliminary trials of coating a thin-film composite PA layer resulted in defect-free reverse osmosis (RO) membranes with a salt rejection of 94% and a flux of 40 L m−2 h−1 when tested against a 2000 mg/L NaCl feed solution at an operating pressure of 15 bar. Results from the testing of the 1812 and 2514 elements validated the novel concept and paved the way for further improvements towards full-scale RO membranes with the potential to be the next low-energy workhorse of the water industry. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymeric Membranes as Promising Pathways to Low-Carbon Future)
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