Submit to Special Issue Submit Abstract to Special Issue Review for Polymers Propose a Special Issue

Journal Menu

Journal Browser

Polymer Membranes for Wastewater Treatment

Print Special Issue Flyer
Editors
Special Issue Information
Keywords
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
Published Papers

A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymer Membranes and Films".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2026 | Viewed by 902

Share This Special Issue

Editors

Dr. Alfredo Cassano

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Institute on Membrane Technology 'Enrico Drioli', ITM-CNR, 87036 Rende, Italy
Interests: circular economy; wastewater treatment; membrane-based processes; agri-food by-products valorisation; environmental sustainability
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Alberto Figoli

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Institute on Membrane Technology, National Research Council, ITM-CNR, 87036 Arcavacata di Rende, Italy
Interests: polymeric membranes; sustainable membrane preparation; bio-polymeric membranes; flat membranes; hollow-fibers; nano fibers; membrane preparation; membrane characterization; pervaporation; antifouling coatings; self-cleaning membranes; ultra-micro filtration
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Wastewater is the largest waste stream from municipalities, petrochemical, pharmaceuticals, food, textile, agricultural, pulp and paper, and other industries. This poses a major ecological problem with high environmental impacts when discharged into the ecosystem without proper treatment.

Membrane separation technology, which utilizes polymeric membranes, has become a key technology in the field of water filtration over the past three decades, providing effective alternatives to related technologies such as adsorption, extraction, distillation, ion exchangers, and sand filters. These technologies include desalination for the purpose of obtaining drinking water from salt water, as well as purification of groundwater or wastewater. Low energy consumption, continuous separation, easy scale-up, modularity, remote control, and no phase separation are well-recognized key advantages of membrane processes over conventional separation technologies.

Various new membrane types have been developed in membrane technology, such as nanocomposite, photocatalytic, adsorptive, and biomimetic membranes. Novel polymeric materials, including dendronized, ionic, and solvent-resistant polymers, have also been reported to improve the properties of membranes.

This Special Issue focuses on the latest fundamental and applied studies in polymeric membrane technologies, including, but not limited to, the synthesis of novel membrane materials, membrane modifications, and advanced membrane processes.

We hereby invite you to submit research articles or comprehensive reviews on the latest studies that could provide innovative findings and breakthroughs in polymeric membrane science.

Dr. Alfredo Cassano
Dr. Alberto Figoli
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Polymers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2700 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 membranes
wastewater treatment
membrane filtration
desalination
novel polymer materials
antifouling membranes
interfacial polymerization
antimicrobial membranes
membrane preparation

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results

Result details

Show export options Show export options

Select all

Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

19 pages, 3865 KB

Open AccessArticle

Electrospinning Preparation of Silk Fibroin/Titanium-Based Photocatalytic Fiber Membrane for Bacteria Disinfection in Wastewater

by Kuo Wang, Xiaoxuan Liu, Dading Zhou, Yujun Wang, Qiansu Ma, Yingnan Yang and Na Liu

Polymers 2026, 18(13), 1632; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym18131632 - 30 Jun 2026

Viewed by 274

Abstract

Most traditional photocatalysts exist in powder form and have the disadvantage of being difficult to recycle and causing secondary pollution to the environment after use. To overcome this drawback, this study combined natural biopolymer (silk fibroin (SF)) with a previously developed titanium-based photocatalytic material P/Ag/Ag₂O/Ag₃PO₄/TiO₂ (PAgT) and fabricated a novel SF/PAgT fiber membrane via electrospinning. During the synthesis process, through adjusting the mass concentration of the PAgT dopant (0–0.30 g/mL), a series of photocatalytic fiber membranes were prepared. The morphology and structure of the as-prepared membranes were characterized by various analytical methods, including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), contact angle (CA) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The SEM images confirmed that the SF/PAgT composite membrane possessed a protrusive and spindle-shaped structure. FT-IR results verified that the primary structure of SF in all the as-prepared SF/PAgT membranes belonged to the Silk II type. The binding of SF with the PAgT photocatalyst did not disrupt the chemical structure and original properties of SF. Moreover, the XRD and CA measurements indicated that the SF/PAgT-4 fiber membrane exhibited the stronger diffraction peaks of anatase TiO₂ crystal structure and enhanced hydrophilicity. The experimental results clarified that the PAgT photocatalyst was successfully loaded onto the SF fiber membrane by electrospinning. To evaluate the performance of the developed visible-light-driven photocatalytic fiber membranes, Gram-negative Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) were selected as representative bacteria strains. The results demonstrated that SF/PAgT-4 exhibited the optimal antibacterial activity and can completely inactivate 10⁷ CFU/mL of E. coli and S. aureus within just 30 min and 60 min treatment, respectively, indicating the optimal doping mass concentration of PAgT during the synthesis process was 0.20 g/mL. Furthermore, the scavenger study proved that during the photocatalytic disinfection process by SF/PAgT-4, all three radicals, including ·OH, h⁺ and ·O₂⁻, participated in the current photocatalytic disinfection system. They were capable of attacking the bacterial cells, causing the cell membrane injury, thereby leading to the intracellular component leakage and inducing extensive bacterial inactivation. Hence, by virtue of its excellent recyclability (during five cycles) and thermal stability (below 250 °C), the developed SF/PAgT-4 fiber membrane holds immense potential for highly efficient and sustainable utilization in practical water treatment applications. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymer Membranes for Wastewater Treatment)

► Show Figures