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Synthesis and Application of Polymer-Based Membranes

A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymeric Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 August 2025 | Viewed by 1672

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
1. LEPABE—Laboratory for Process Engineering, Environment, Biotechnology and Energy, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal
2. ALiCE—Associate Laboratory in Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal
Interests: polymers for advanced technologies; polymers for photovoltaics; polymers for gas separation membranes; polymer-based carbon molecular sieve membranes; polymer solubility in solvents; polymer blend miscibility; sorption (thermodynamics) and diffusion (kinetics) of solvents in polymers
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Guest Editor
Department of Chemistry, University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Quinta de Prados, 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal
Interests: modeling and simulation; membrane reactors; pressure swing adsorption

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Polymer-based membranes are employed in myriad applications involving transport processes. These applications include membrane gas separation; water purification processes, including reverse osmosis and nano-, ultra-, and microfiltration; electrodialysis; dialysis; hemodialysis; protective coatings (paint); and barrier properties for packaging films. Emerging applications employ polymeric membranes in fuel cell and lithium battery applications, various optoelectronic applications, and conductive polymeric coatings as well as films. There is also a growing interest in the development of polymer-based carbon molecular sieve membranes (CMSMs) for gas separation, due to their higher permeability and selectivity in addition to higher stability in corrosive and high-temperature environments. CMSMs are made from the controlled carbonization of polymeric precursor films (polyimide, phenolic resin, cellulose, etc.).

In the field of gas and liquid separation and purification, polymer-based membrane technologies can compete with conventional separation and purification processes (such as pressure swing adsorption, cryogenic distillation, and distillation) because polymer-based membrane technologies can be more energy efficient, more environmentally friendly, and technically simpler to implement.

This Special Issue aims to bring together research papers, short communications, and review articles focused on the novel synthesis, device designs, fabrication, and advanced characterization of polymer-based membranes for several different applications in order to provide a comprehensive overview of the state of the art in the field.

Dr. Gabriel Bernardo
Dr. José Manuel Sousa
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • polymer-based membranes
  • carbon molecular sieve membranes
  • gas separation and purification
  • liquid separation and purification
  • packaging films
  • protective coatings

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

17 pages, 6575 KiB  
Article
Preparation and Property Analysis of Antibacterial Fiber Membranes Based on Hyperbranched Polymer Quaternary Ammonium Salts
by Jiehui Zhu, Ying Guo, Lirong Yao, Gangwei Pan, Desuo Zhang and Jianwei Yang
Materials 2024, 17(15), 3761; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17153761 - 30 Jul 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1270
Abstract
Due to their excellent properties, antimicrobial fiber membranes are widely applied in bioprotective materials. This work addresses the preparation of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU)-based fiber membranes with active antimicrobial properties. 2-hydroxypropyl trimethyl ammonium chloride-terminated hyperbranched polymer (HBP-HTC) was synthesized and used as an antimicrobial [...] Read more.
Due to their excellent properties, antimicrobial fiber membranes are widely applied in bioprotective materials. This work addresses the preparation of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU)-based fiber membranes with active antimicrobial properties. 2-hydroxypropyl trimethyl ammonium chloride-terminated hyperbranched polymer (HBP-HTC) was synthesized and used as an antimicrobial agent. The fiber membranes were obtained by electrospinning a mixed solution of HBP-HTC and TPU. Different electrospinning conditions were investigated, such as the spinning voltage and drum rotation speed. The fiber membrane prepared under a 22 kV anode voltage and 100 rpm rotation speed had an average fiber diameter of 1.66 μm with a concentrated diameter distribution. Antibacterial tests showed that when the fiber membrane was loaded with 1500 mg/kg of HBP-HTC, the antibacterial rates of E. coli as well as S. aureus both reached 99.99%, exhibiting excellent proactive antimicrobial performance. Moreover, the protective performance of the fiber membrane was outstanding, with a filtration efficiency of 99.9%, a hydrostatic pressure resistance greater than 16,758 Pa, and a moisture permeability of 2711.0 g⋅(m2⋅d)−1. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Synthesis and Application of Polymer-Based Membranes)
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