2-D Materials for Membrane Based Water Purifications

Dear Colleagues,

Due to industrial development and urbanization, there has been a sharp rise in global water use over the past 50 years. Owing to human activities and inadequate management of natural water resources, this has led to an increase in water pollution. Recent studies have shown synthetic pollutants of rising concern in raw/finished drinking water and wastewater influents/effluents at extremely low levels (less than 1 g/L). Different traditional and cutting-edge treatment methods, including membranes, ultrasonication, chlorination, ozonation, carbon/nanomaterial adsorption, distillation, and flocculation/filtration, have been used in water and wastewater treatment plants to treat both established and emerging pollutants. In recent years, membrane methods have grown in popularity. Membrane separation has become a promising technology in the past few decades in response to environmental and energy challenges. Membrane separation and purification have been extensively employed in the chemical, pharmaceutical, and water industries and provide a range of benefits, including a reduced carbon footprint, high reliability, simple operation, and reduced secondary pollution. However, fouling is a significant challenge that affects the performance and lifespan of membranes in water treatment processes, as it reduces membrane permeability and selectivity. To mitigate fouling, various approaches such as pretreatment, membrane modification, and cleaning have been developed. Moreover, harsh operational conditions, such as extreme pH, temperature, and pressure, can lead to membrane degradation, which affects the performance and durability of the membrane. To overcome these challenges, extensive research efforts are focused on developing new advanced materials to improve membrane performance and reduce fouling.

With the advancements in material science and nanotechnology, 2D materials are gaining significant attention in various applications. In addition, 2D material-based membranes with finely tuned micropores can separate molecules based on their size and chemical properties with high selectivity. By adjusting the intrinsic properties of the 2D material, such as its lattice structure, chemical composition, and thickness, the pore size and shape of these membranes can be precisely controlled. This allows for the creation of membranes that can selectively filter out specific molecules or contaminants from a mixture, making them useful in a wide range of applications, such as water treatment, gas separation, and chemical purification.

This Special Issue related to ‘2D Materials for Membrane-Based Water Purification’ is aimed at researchers, scientists and academicians who are interested in novel 2D materials-based water separation, i.e., membrane-based purification methods,  and use several methods to design 2D materials such as MXene, graphene, GO and rGO and their hybrid, BN, and transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs), such as MoS_2, along with composite materials to develop improved constructability and high flux-based membranes. We welcome submissions of original research and review articles in on the topic of 2D material-based membranes for water purification, including advances in materials development and membrane process design. We also welcome research topics and review articles that cover renewable energy-based (MSF, MED, and other thermal distillation) desalination and integrated membrane-based water purification for sustainable water purification. 

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Das Rasel
Dr. Amrit Kumar Thakur
Dr. Guorong Xu
Guest Editors

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• 2-D materials
• water purification
• wastewater treatment
• membrane separation
• membrane process
• membrane materials