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Dear Colleagues,

With growing environmental concern, many efforts have been devoted to the development of new membranes using polymers from renewable sources, which should present a good compromise between flux and selectivity as well as chemical and mechanical stability. To date, polysaccharide-based membranes have been developed using starch, alginate and chitosan with successful application in pervaporation, fuel cells and adsorption processes, as well as in packaging. However, intensive research is being developed in microbial polysaccharides production, since they present new or improved properties, being competitive with natural polysaccharides as well as with synthetic polymers. This issue aims to collect key contributions to the field and give an overview about the use of biopolymer membranes in industrial processes for chemical, biological and environmental applications.

Dr. Isabel Coelhoso
Guest Editor

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

biopolymer membranes
polysaccharides
alginate
chitosan
starch
microbial polysaccharides
pervaporation
packaging
fuel cells
adsorption

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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Open AccessArticle

Preparation and Characterization of Facilitated Transport Membranes Composed of Chitosan-Styrene and Chitosan-Acrylonitrile Copolymers Modified by Methylimidazolium Based Ionic Liquids for CO₂ Separation from CH₄ and N₂

Alexandr A. Moskvichev

Andrey V. Vorotyntsev

Carlos A. M. Afonso

and

Ilya V. Vorotyntsev

Membranes 2016, 6(2), 31; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes6020031 - 09 Jun 2016

Cited by 28 | Viewed by 6712

Abstract

CO₂ separation was found to be facilitated by transport membranes based on novel chitosan (CS)–poly(styrene) (PS) and chitosan (CS)–poly(acrylonitrile) (PAN) copolymer matrices doped with methylimidazolium based ionic liquids: [bmim][BF₄], [bmim][PF₆], and [bmim][Tf₂N] (IL). CS plays the role of biodegradable film former and selectivity promoter. Copolymers were prepared implementing the latest achievements in radical copolymerization with chosen monomers, which enabled the achievement of outstanding mechanical strength values for the CS-based membranes (75–104 MPa for CS-PAN and 69–75 MPa for CS-PS). Ionic liquid (IL) doping affected the surface and mechanical properties of the membranes as well as the gas separation properties. The highest CO₂ permeability 400 Barrers belongs to CS-b-PS/[bmim][BF₄]. The highest selectivity α (CO₂/N₂) = 15.5 was achieved for CS-b-PAN/[bmim][BF₄]. The operational temperature of the membranes is under 220 °C. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biopolymer Membranes for Industrial Applications)

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Review

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Open AccessReview

Polysaccharide-Based Membranes in Food Packaging Applications

Ana R. V. Ferreira

Vítor D. Alves

and

Isabel M. Coelhoso

Membranes 2016, 6(2), 22; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes6020022 - 13 Apr 2016

Cited by 177 | Viewed by 15976

Abstract

Plastic packaging is essential nowadays. However, the huge environmental problem caused by landfill disposal of non-biodegradable polymers in the end of life has to be minimized and preferentially eliminated. The solution may rely on the use of biopolymers, in particular polysaccharides. These macromolecules with film-forming properties are able to produce attracting biodegradable materials, possibly applicable in food packaging. Despite all advantages of using polysaccharides obtained from different sources, some drawbacks, mostly related to their low resistance to water, mechanical performance and price, have hindered their wider use and commercialization. Nevertheless, with increasing attention and research on this field, it has been possible to trace some strategies to overcome the problems and recognize solutions. This review summarizes some of the most used polysaccharides in food packaging applications. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biopolymer Membranes for Industrial Applications)

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