Special Issue "Special Issue in Honor of Professor Ahmad Fauzi Ismail"

A special issue of Membranes (ISSN 2077-0375).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 10 November 2021.

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Pei Sean Goh
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Guest Editor
Advanced Membrane Technology Research Centre, Faculty of Chemical and Energy Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Johor Bahru, Malaysia
Interests: nanomaterial and nanocomposite synthesis; surface modification; polymeric nanocomposite; membranes; desalination and wastewater treatment; energy production
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Takeshi Matsuura
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada
Interests: membranes and membrane separation processes
Dr. Mohd Hafiz Dzarfan Othman
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Advanced Membrane Technology Research Center (AMTEC), School of Chemical and Energy Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 UTM Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
Interests: fuel cells; hydrogen production and purification; membrane separation
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce a Special Issue to honour Professor Ahmad Fauzi Ismail. Professor Ismail is the Vice-Chancellor of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM). He is the Founding Director of Advanced Membrane Technology Research Centre (AMTEC), UTM.  Professor Ismail graduated with a B.Eng. (Petroleum Engineering) and M.Sc. in (Chemical Engineering) from UTM. He was awarded the Commonwealth Academic Staff Scholarship to pursue his Ph.D. in Chemical and Process Engineering at University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, United Kingdom (UK), specializing in Membrane Technology, and  completed his PhD study in less than three years in 1997.

Professor Ismail’s research focuses on the development of polymeric, inorganic and mixed matrix membranes for water desalination, waste water treatment, gas separation processes, fuel cell, palm oil refining, haemodialysis and smart optical fibre sensor. He also led a team of researchers and professional service teams who have secured research grants at the national and international levels of more than USD 15 million in total. He is the author of over 1000 papers in refereed journals and over 50 book chapters. He has authored or co-authored 6 books and edited or co-edited 11 books. He has supervised more than 70 PhD and 50 Master’s students, as well as having supervised 10 post-doctoral fellows.  He received more than 130 awards both at the National and International level.

Professor Ismail also serves as Editor for a number of reputable journals and sits in the Editorial Board of numerous reputable international journals. Professor Ismail served as the Chief Editor of Water Treatment and Desalination and Emergent Materials; Engineering Editor for The Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering (AJSE); Advisory Board Members for Desalination, Journal of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology and Journal of Membrane Science and Research; Editorial Board Members for Separation and Purification Technology, Journal of Membrane Water Treatment, Membranes and Jurnal Teknologi.

In honour of the significant career contributions by Prof. Ahmad Fauzi Ismail in the fields of membrane science and technology, this Special Issue of Membranes calls for the contributions, original research articles and review, related to this field.

Dr. Pei Sean Goh
Prof. Dr. Takeshi Matsuura
Dr. Mohd Hafiz Dzarfan Othman
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 papers will be 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 1800 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

  • polymeric, inorganic and nanocomposite membranes
  • membrane fabrication and modifications
  • gas separation
  • wastewater treatment and desalination
  • environmental remediation
  • energy
  • biomedical
  • emerging membrane processes
  • membrane module and system design
  • economic analysis of membrane processes

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

Article
Effects of an Alternating Magnetic Field towards Dispersion of α-Fe2O3/TiO2 Magnetic Filler in PPOdm Polymer for CO2/CH4 Gas Separation
Membranes 2021, 11(8), 641; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes11080641 - 20 Aug 2021
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Abstract
Magnetic-field-induced dispersion of magnetic fillers has been proven to improve the gas separation performance of mixed matrix membranes (MMMs). However, the magnetic field induced is usually in a horizontal or vertical direction. Limited study has been conducted on the effects of alternating magnetic [...] Read more.
Magnetic-field-induced dispersion of magnetic fillers has been proven to improve the gas separation performance of mixed matrix membranes (MMMs). However, the magnetic field induced is usually in a horizontal or vertical direction. Limited study has been conducted on the effects of alternating magnetic field (AMF) direction towards the dispersion of particles. Thus, this work focuses on the incorporation and dispersion of ferromagnetic iron oxide–titanium (IV) dioxide (αFe2O3/TiO2) particles in a poly (2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene) oxide (PPOdm) membrane via an AMF to investigate its effect on the magnetic filler dispersion and correlation towards gas separation performance. The fillers were incorporated into PPOdm polymer via a spin-coating method at a 1, 3, and 5 wt% filler loading. The MMM with the 3 wt% loading showed the best performance in terms of particle dispersion and gas separation performance. The three MMMs were refabricated in an alternating magnetic field, and the MMM with the 3 wt% loading presented the best performance. The results display an increment in selectivity by 100% and a decrement in CO2 permeability by 97% to an unmagnetized MMM for the 3 wt% loading. The degree of filler dispersion was quantified and measured using Area Disorder of Delaunay Triangulation mapped onto the filler on binarized MMM images. The results indicate that the magnetized MMM presents a greater degree of dispersion than the unmagnetized MMM. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Special Issue in Honor of Professor Ahmad Fauzi Ismail)
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Article
Modified Zeolite/Polysulfone Mixed Matrix Membrane for Enhanced CO2/CH4 Separation
Membranes 2021, 11(8), 630; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes11080630 - 16 Aug 2021
Viewed by 341
Abstract
In recent years, mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) have received worldwide attention for their potential to offer superior gas permeation and separation performance involving CO2 and CH4. However, fabricating defect-free MMMs still remains as a challenge where the incorporation of fillers [...] Read more.
In recent years, mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) have received worldwide attention for their potential to offer superior gas permeation and separation performance involving CO2 and CH4. However, fabricating defect-free MMMs still remains as a challenge where the incorporation of fillers into MMMs has usually led to some issues including formation of undesirable interfacial voids, which may jeopardize the gas separation performance of the MMMs. This current work investigated the incorporation of zeolite RHO and silane-modified zeolite RHO (NH2–RHO) into polysulfone (PSf) based MMMs with the primary aim of enhancing the membrane’s gas permeation and separation performance. The synthesized zeolite RHO, NH2–RHO, and fabricated membranes were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, Fourier transform infrared-attenuated total reflection (FTIR-ATR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and field emission scanning election microscopy (FESEM). The effects of zeolite loading in the MMMs on the CO2/CH4 separation performance were investigated. By incorporating 1 wt% of zeolite RHO into the MMMs, the CO2 permeability and ideal CO2/CH4 selectivity slightly increased by 4.2% and 2.7%, respectively, compared to that of a pristine PSf membrane. On the other hand, a significant enhancement of 45% in ideal CO2/CH4 selectivity was attained by MMMs incorporated with 2 wt% of zeolite NH2-RHO compared to a pristine PSf membrane. Besides, all MMMs incorporated with zeolite NH2-RHO displayed higher ideal CO2/CH4 selectivity than that of the MMMs incorporated with zeolite RHO. By incorporating 1–3 wt% zeolite NH2-RHO into PSf matrix, MMMs without interfacial voids were successfully fabricated. Consequently, significant enhancement in ideal CO2/CH4 selectivity was enabled by the incorporation of zeolite NH2–RHO into MMMs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Special Issue in Honor of Professor Ahmad Fauzi Ismail)
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Article
Research and Development Journey and Future Trends of Hollow Fiber Membranes for Purification Applications (1970–2020): A Bibliometric Analysis
Membranes 2021, 11(8), 600; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes11080600 - 07 Aug 2021
Viewed by 448
Abstract
Hollow fiber membrane (HFM) technology has received significant attention due to its broad range separation and purification applications in the industry. In the current study, we applied bibliometric analysis to evaluate the global research trends on key applications of HFMs by evaluating the [...] Read more.
Hollow fiber membrane (HFM) technology has received significant attention due to its broad range separation and purification applications in the industry. In the current study, we applied bibliometric analysis to evaluate the global research trends on key applications of HFMs by evaluating the global publication outputs. Results obtained from 5626 published articles (1970–2020) from the Scopus database were further manipulated using VOSviewer software through cartography analysis. The study emphasizes the performance of most influential annual publications covering mainstream journals, leading countries, institutions, leading authors and author’s keywords, as well as future research trends. The study found that 62% of the global HFM publications were contributed by China, USA, Singapore, Japan and Malaysia, followed by 77 other countries. This study will stimulate the researchers by showing the future-minded research directions when they select new research areas, particularly in those related to water treatment, biomedical and gas separation applications of HFM. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Special Issue in Honor of Professor Ahmad Fauzi Ismail)
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Article
Phosphate Adsorption from Aqueous Solution Using Electrospun Cellulose Acetate Nanofiber Membrane Modified with Graphene Oxide/Sodium Dodecyl Sulphate
Membranes 2021, 11(7), 546; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes11070546 - 20 Jul 2021
Viewed by 680
Abstract
Eutrophication and water pollution caused by a high concentration of phosphate are two concerning issues that affect water quality worldwide. A novel cellulose-based adsorbent, cellulose acetate/graphene oxide/sodium dodecyl sulphate (CA/GO/SDS), was developed for water treatment. A 13% CA solution in a mixture of [...] Read more.
Eutrophication and water pollution caused by a high concentration of phosphate are two concerning issues that affect water quality worldwide. A novel cellulose-based adsorbent, cellulose acetate/graphene oxide/sodium dodecyl sulphate (CA/GO/SDS), was developed for water treatment. A 13% CA solution in a mixture of acetone:dimethylacetamide (2:1) has been electrospun and complexed with a GO/SDS solution. The field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) showed that the CA membrane was pure white, while the CA/GO/SDS membrane was not as white as CA and its colour became darker as the GO content increased. The process of phosphate removal from the solutions was found to be aided by the hydroxyl groups on the surface of the CA modified with GO/SDS, as shown by infrared spectroscopy. An optimization condition for the adsorption process was studied by varying pH, immersion time, and the mass of the membrane. The experimental results from phosphate adsorption showed that CA/GO/SDS had an excellent pH adaptability, with an optimum pH of 7, and maximum removal (>87.0%) was observed with a membrane mass of 0.05 g at an initial concentration of 25 mg L−1. A kinetic study revealed that 180 min of contact time could adsorb about 87.2% of phosphate onto the CA/GO/SDS membrane. A typical pseudo-second-order kinetic model successfully portrayed the kinetic sorption of phosphate, and the adsorption equilibrium data were well-correlated with the Langmuir adsorption model, suggesting the monolayer coverage of adsorbed molecules. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Special Issue in Honor of Professor Ahmad Fauzi Ismail)
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