Membranes, Volume 12, Issue 4

The polymer electrolytes are considered to be an alternative to liquid electrolytes for lithium-ion batteries because of their high thermal stability, flexibility, and wide applications. However, the polymer electrolytes have low ionic conductivity a...

Membrane fouling limits the rapid development of membrane separations. In this study, a blend membrane containing polycationic liquid (P(BVImBr₁-co-PEGMA₁)) is presented that can improve the antifouling performance of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) m...

Starch is a naturally occurring material showing high potential for use in food packaging because of its low cost, natural abundance and high biodegradability. Over the years, different starch-based packaging films have been developed, but the impact...

A series of Zeolitic imidazole framework-8 (ZIF-8) clusters supported on graphene oxide (ZIF-8@GO) nanocomposites were prepared by varying the ratios of ZIF-8 to GO. The resultant nanocomposites were characterized using various techniques, such as Sc...

Assessing the financial impact of polymers of intrinsic microporosity, otherwise known as PIMs, at the lab scale has been impeded by the absence of a holistic approach that would envelop all related financial parameters, and most importantly any indi...

Inorganic–organic composite membranes (IOCMs) are an alternative separation method developed for their straightforward process, economic benefits, and ease of scaling up. The IOCMs in this study were prepared from a biopolymer chitosan matrix a...

Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)-based polymers are excellent stabilizers for food supplements and pharmaceutical ingredients. However, they are highly hygroscopic. This study measured and modeled the water-sorption isotherms and water-sorption kinetics in...

In this study, theoretical models for specific energy consumption (SEC) were established for water recovery in different integrated processes, such as RO-PRO, RO-MD and RO-MD-PRO. Our models can evaluate SEC under different water recovery conditions...

The hot-pressing process of the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) is one of the research hotspots in the field of the fuel cell. To obtain suitable titanium mesh-based MEA hot pressing process parameters, titanium mesh was used as electrode substrate...

This paper evaluates the performance of Nafion 211 at elevated temperatures up to 120 °C using an experimentally validated model. Increasing the fuel cell operating temperature could have many key benefits at the cell and system levels. However,...

In recent years, the emergence of disparate micro-contaminants in aquatic environments such as water/wastewater sources has eventuated in serious concerns about humans’ health all over the world. Membrane bioreactor (MBR) is considered a notewo...

The plasma membrane separates the interior of the cells from the extracellular fluid and protects the cell from disruptive external factors. Therefore, the self-repairing capability of the membrane is crucial for cells to maintain homeostasis and sur...

This short review summarizes the improvements on biological fuel cells (BioFCs) with or without ionomer separation membrane. After a general introduction about the main challenges of modern energy management, BioFCs are presented including microbial...

A three-step surface modification consisting of activation with NaOH, functionalisation with a silica precursor and organofluorosilane mixture (FSi_T), and curing was applied to a poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) membrane for the recovery of dissolved...

Design and preparation of mixed-matrix membranes (MMMs) with minimum defects and high performance for desired gas separations is still challenging as it depends on a variety of MMM synthesis parameters. In this study, 6FDA-DAM:DABA based MMMs using M...

Hollow fiber membranes were produced from a commercial polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) polymer, Kynar HSV 900, with a unique sandwich structure consisting of two sponge-like layers connected to the outer and inner skin layers while the middle layer co...

Membrane distillation (MD) is an attractive separation process for wastewater treatment and desalination. There are continuing challenges in implementing MD technologies at a large industrial scale. This work attempts to investigate the desalination...

Membranes for carbon capture have improved significantly with various promoters such as amines and fillers that enhance their overall permeance and selectivity toward a certain particular gas. They require nominal energy input and can achieve bulk se...

A high shear rate can be applied to fluid near a membrane surface by rotating the membrane. This shear rate enables higher permeate flux and higher concentration operation when compared with a conventional cross-flow membrane since fouling and/or con...

Pharmaceuticals and personal care products have raised significant concerns because of their extensive use, presence in aquatic environments, and potential impacts on wildlife and humans. Carbamazepine was the most frequently detected pharmaceutical...

Conventional Nafion membranes demonstrate a strong affinity for methanol, resulting in a high fuel crossover, poor mechanical stability, and thus poor performance in direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs). This study involves the synthesis and physiochem...

The concept of thermophilic membrane-aerated biofilm reactor (ThMABR) is studied by modeling. This concept combines the advantages and overcomes the disadvantages of conventional MABR and thermophilic aerobic biological treatment and has great potent...

The realistic resistance zone of water and salt molecules to transport across a TFC-RO membrane is the topmost polyamide nanofilm. The existence of hollow voids in the fully aromatic polyamide (PA) film gives its surface ridge-and-valley morphologies...

This review is devoted to different types of novel polymer electrolytes for lithium power sources developed during the last decade. In the first part, the compositions and conductivity of various polymer electrolytes are considered. The second part c...

Understanding the adsorption and interaction between porous materials and protein is of great importance in biomedical and interface sciences. Among the studied porous materials, TiO₂ and its hybrid materials, featuring distinct, well-defined pore si...

In this project, a commercial polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membrane was coated with a thin layer of polyether block amide (PEBAX) via vacuum filtration to improve hydrophilicity and to study the bubble formation. Two parameters, namely PEBAX concen...

Using an environmentally friendly approach for eliminating methylene blue from an aqueous solution, the authors developed a unique electrospun nanofiber membrane made of a combination of polyethersulfone and hydroxypropyl cellulose (PES/HPC). SEM res...

A porous substrate plays an important role in constructing a thin-film composite forward osmosis (TFC-FO) membrane. To date, the morphology and performance of TFC-FO membranes are greatly limited by porous substrates, which are commonly fabricated by...

Thin film transistors (TFTs) are key components used in a variety of fields such as solar cell, active-matrix liquid crystal displays (AM-LCDs), pixel switches, peripheral driver circuit and flexible electronics [...]

Obesity has reached global epidemic proportions and it affects the development of insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, fatty liver disease and other metabolic diseases. Membrane lipids are important structural and signaling components of the cell mem...

The separation by electrodialysis with ultrafiltration membranes (EDUF), at a semi-industrial scale, of a new whey protein hydrolysate obtained from a whey protein concentrate was assessed. After 6 h of treatment, more than 9 g of peptides were recov...

Hydroxyapatite nanoparticles (HAn) have been produced as biomaterial from biowaste, especially snail shells (Atactodea glabrata). It is critical to recycle the waste product in a biomedical application to overcome antibiotic resistance as well as bio...

Obstacles in the membrane-based separation field are mainly related to membrane fouling. This study involved the synthesis and utilization of covalently crosslinked MXene/cellulose acetate mixed matrix membranes with MXene at different concentrations...

The hydrogen evolution reaction of the anode is a severe barrier that limits the further commercial application of Al–air batteries. Therefore, this study introduces a bifunctional membrane for the inhibition of hydrogen evolution in Al–a...

The hybrid composite of silver nanowires (AgNWs) and reduced graphene oxide (RGO) was synthesized in situ by an improved polyol–thermal method. The AgNWs-RGO with mass contents of 5–37 wt% was added into the thermo-reversible Diels–...

The removal of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from wastewater containing nonvolatile salts has become an important and interesting case of the application of the pervaporation (PV) process. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of sa...

Membrane fouling remains one of the most critical drawbacks in membrane filtration processes. Although the effect of various operating parameters—such as flow velocity, concentration, and foulant size—are well-studied, the impact of parti...

Laminar graphene oxide (GO) membranes have demonstrated great potential as next-generation water-treatment membranes because of their outstanding performance and physicochemical properties. However, solute rejection and stability deterioration in aqu...

This work proposes a way to maximize the potential of a Nannochloropsis sp. biorefinery process, through membrane technology, producing an extract enriched in soluble proteins, free from the insoluble protein fraction, with a low lipid content and el...

This Special Issue of Membranes, entitled “Influence of Surface Forces on Membrane Separation”, is published in honour of Professor Victor Mikhailovich Starov, Doctor of Science in Chemistry, Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry [...]

A membrane-based system with a retentate recycle process in tandem with an enriching cascade was studied for >90% carbon capture from coal flue gas. A highly CO₂-selective facilitated transport membrane (FTM) was utilized particularly to enhance t...

Herb medicines are popular for safe application due to being a source of natural herbs. However, how to deliver them in an efficacious and convenient manner poses a big challenge to researchers. In this study, a new concept is demonstrated that the e...

Amoebiasis is the third most common parasitic cause of morbidity and mortality, particularly in countries with poor hygienic settings in central and south America, Africa, and India. This disease is caused by a protozoan parasite, namely Entamoeba hi...

Malaria is caused by obligate intracellular parasites belonging to the genus Plasmodium. Red blood cells (RBCs) infected with different stages of Plasmodium spp. release extracellular vesicles (EVs). Extensive studies have recently shown that these E...

Reverse electrodialysis (RED) generates power directly by transforming salinity gradient into electrical energy. The ion transport properties of the ion-exchange membranes need to be investigated deeply to improve the limiting efficiencies of the RED...

Endocytosis is a critical process for cell growth and viability. It mediates nutrient uptake, guarantees plasma membrane homeostasis, and generates intracellular signaling cascades. Moreover, it plays an important role in dead cell clearance and defe...

Membrane-based oil–water separation has shown huge potential as a remedy to challenge oily wastewater with ease and low energy consumption compared to conventional purification techniques. A set of new composite ceramic membranes was fabricated...

Proteins embedded in biological membranes perform essential functions in all organisms, serving as receptors, transporters, channels, cell adhesion molecules, and other supporting cellular roles. These membrane proteins comprise ~30% of all human pro...

Low-pressure membrane technology (ultrafiltration and microfiltration) has been applied to two key effluents generated by the petroleum industry: produced water (PW) from oil exploration, a significant proportion being generated offshore, and onshore...

Proteins in eukaryotic cells reside in different cell compartments. Many studies require the specific localization of proteins and the detection of any dynamic changes in intracellular protein distribution. There are several methods available for thi...