Advanced Research on Thin-Film Composite Membranes
A special issue of Membranes (ISSN 2077-0375). This special issue belongs to the section "Membrane Applications".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2022) | Viewed by 4567
Special Issue Editors
Interests: membrane technology; anion exchange membranes (AEMs) for fuel cell; synthesis of novel materials for aems; fuel cell; flow batteries; electrolysis
Interests: fuel cell and secondary battery materials; functional polymer; nanomaterials and technology
Interests: advanced metal and alloys; composite materials; microstructure characterizations and mechanical properties
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Thin-film composite membranes are semipermeable membranes designed to be used in water desalination and purification systems. They are also used in chemical processes as fuel cells and batteries. A thin film composite (TFC) membrane is a molecular sieve made up of two or more layered materials that are formed into a film. The three-layer structure provides strong rejection of unwanted elements (such as salts), a high filtering rate, and superior mechanical strength. The high rejection is due to the polyamide top layer, which was chosen for its water permeability and relative impermeability to different dissolved contaminants, such as salt ions and additional tiny, un-filterable molecules.
The invention of thin film composite membranes, which consist of a very thin (barrier) layer polymerized in situ atop a porous polymeric support membrane, was a major milestone in the area of membrane separations. Although TFC is a registered trademark of Koch Membrane Systems, Inc. in the United States and other countries, these membranes are commonly referred to as “interfacial composites”, “composites”, or “TFC” membranes. The chemistry, and hence the performance, of the top selective layer and the porous support layer may be individually chosen to improve composite membrane performance, which is a key benefit of TFC membranes over integrally skinned asymmetric membranes.
Furthermore, because the selective layer only accounts for a tiny part of the entire material, more expensive monomers may be employed to produce it without significantly raising the cost. The search of high-selectivity, high-flux RO membranes for the desalination of seawater was one of the primary drivers driving the development of TFC membrane materials during the last 40–50 years. Low-pressure RO membranes for desalting brackish water and purifying wastewater to near-ultrapure levels were developed along the way, as were NF membranes, which are today mostly employed for dissolved organic removal and water softening.
This Special Issue focuses on advanced fabrication methods of “Thin Film Composite Membranes”, such as interlayer deposition, layer-by-layer deposition, thin film nanocomposite fabrications by various nanomaterials, and other novel methods for the synthesis of thin-film selective layers on porous substrates for a variety of applications, i.e., separation, fuel cell. etc. Authors are encouraged to submit their most recent findings and conclusions, including original articles and reviews.
Dr. Naeem Akhtar Qaisrani
Prof. Dr. Fengxiang Zhang
Dr. Muhammad Abubaker Khan
Dr. Ali Ahmad
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 2200 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
- thin film composite membrane
- membrane for fuel cell
- AEM or PEM
- nanomaterials
- layer-by-layer deposition
- interlayer deposition
- novel synthesis approaches
- novel polymeric material
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