Research on Polymeric, Composite and Biological Membranes at UPEC: State-of-the-Art and Perspectives

A special issue of Membranes (ISSN 2077-0375). This special issue belongs to the section "Biological Membrane Composition and Structures".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 June 2023) | Viewed by 5189

Special Issue Editors

Institut de Chimie et des Matériaux Paris-Est (ICMPE), UMR 7182 CNRS, Université Paris-Est, 2 Rue Henri Dunant, 94320 Thiais, France
Interests: ion-exchange membrane; dialysis; electrodialysis; membrane characterization; fouling; scaling; antifouling strategies; microstructure modeling; water treatment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
U955, IMRB, Faculté de Santé, 8 rue du Général Sarrail, 94010 Créteil, France
Interests: cell biomechanics; cell-microenvironment in-teraction via the complex extracellular matrix–cell membrane–cytoskeleton–nucleus

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The word membrane, from the Latin membrana, means "skin that covers the limbs, the flesh" (purely biological aspect), and appeared in the 16th century; the word has now become a common name used to describe the many walls that separate two different environments. These membranes play an essential role in regulating the transport of materials or the transfer of energy from one medium to another. Thus, we find this word in almost all fields, such as anatomy, botany, chemistry, acoustics, paper making, etc. Despite our understanding of membranes having existed for five centuries, and with millions of studies concerning them carried out in that time, these membranes have still not revealed all of their secrets and complexities and do not stop surprising us with their vast field of applications.

The University of Paris-Est Créteil (UPEC) is one of the international universities very active in the research and development of membranes of various kinds: polymeric, composite, and biological. With its large research laboratories in connection with membranes (IMRB, ICMPE, LEESU, LISA, etc.), its Henri Mondor University Hospital Center, and its openness to the industrial world, UPEC has been able to develop high-quality research on the various types of membranes.

This Special Issue aims to review these state-of-the-art research activities, to identify the existing scientific barriers, and to outline the short- and long-term perspectives. Fruitful international collaborations are expected to develop from this synthesis work.

Prof. Dr. Lasâad Dammak
Dr. Sophie Féréol
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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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 membrane
  • biological membrane
  • composite membrane
  • per-spectives
  • synthesis
  • characterization
  • modeling
  • applications

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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18 pages, 4450 KiB  
Article
Preparation and Characterization of New and Low-Cost Ceramic Flat Membranes Based on Zeolite-Clay for the Removal of Indigo Blue Dye Molecules
by Yassine Khmiri, Afef Attia, Hajer Aloulou, Lasâad Dammak, Lassaad Baklouti and Raja Ben Amar
Membranes 2023, 13(11), 865; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes13110865 - 31 Oct 2023
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Abstract
Composite flat membranes were prepared using a dry uniaxial pressing process. The effect of the sintering temperature (850–950 °C) and smectite proportion (10–50 wt.%) on membrane properties, such as microstructure, mechanical strength, water permeability, and treatment performances, was explored. It was observed that [...] Read more.
Composite flat membranes were prepared using a dry uniaxial pressing process. The effect of the sintering temperature (850–950 °C) and smectite proportion (10–50 wt.%) on membrane properties, such as microstructure, mechanical strength, water permeability, and treatment performances, was explored. It was observed that increasing the sintering temperature and adding higher amounts of smectite increased the mechanical strength and shrinkage. Therefore, 850 °C was chosen as the optimum sintering temperature because the composite membranes had a very low shrinkage that did not exceed 5% with high mechanical strength, above 23 MPa. The study of smectite addition (10–50 wt.%) showed that the pore size and water permeability were significantly reduced from 0.98 to 0.75 µm and from 623 to 371 L·h−1·m−2·bar−1, respectively. Furthermore, the application of the used membranes in the treatment of indigo blue (IB) solutions exhibited an almost total turbidity removal. While the removal of color and COD decreased from 95% to 76%, respectively, they decreased from 95% to 52% when the amount of smectite increased. To verify the treated water’s low toxicity, a germination test was performed. It has been shown that the total germination of linseed grains irrigated by MS10-Z90 membrane permeate was identical to that irrigated with distilled water. Finally, based on its promising properties, its excellent separation efficiency, and its low energy consumption, the MS10-Z90 (10 wt.% smectite and 90 wt.% zeolite) sintered at 850 °C could be recommended for the treatment of colored industrial wastewater. Full article
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18 pages, 3711 KiB  
Article
Investigation of Calcium and Magnesium Removal by Donnan Dialysis According to the Doehlert Design for Softening Different Water Types
by Ikhlass Marzouk-Trifi, Lassaad Baklouti and Lasâad Dammak
Membranes 2023, 13(2), 203; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes13020203 - 07 Feb 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1389
Abstract
In this study, calcium and magnesium were removed from Tunisian dam, lake, and tap water using Donnan Dialysis (DD) according to the Doehlert design. Three cation-exchange membranes (CMV, CMX, and CMS) were used in a preliminary investigation to establish the upper and lower [...] Read more.
In this study, calcium and magnesium were removed from Tunisian dam, lake, and tap water using Donnan Dialysis (DD) according to the Doehlert design. Three cation-exchange membranes (CMV, CMX, and CMS) were used in a preliminary investigation to establish the upper and lower bounds of each parameter and to more precisely pinpoint the optimal value. The concentration of compensating sodium ions [Na+] in the receiver compartment, the concentration of calcium [Ca2+] and magnesium [Mg2+] in the feed compartment, and the membrane nature were the experimental parameters. The findings indicate that the CMV membrane offers the highest elimination rate of calcium and magnesium. The Full Factorial Design makes it possible to determine how the experimental factors affect the removal of calcium and magnesium by DD. All parameters used had a favorable impact on the response; however, the calcium and magnesium concentration were the most significant ones. The Doehlert design’s Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was used to determine the optimum conditions ([Mg2+] = 90 mg·L−1, [Ca2+] = 88 mg·L−1, [Na+] = 0.68 mol·L−1) allowing a 90.6% hardness removal rate with the CMV membrane. Finally, we used Donnan Dialysis to remove calcium and magnesium from the three different types of natural water: Dam, Lake, and Tap water. The results indicate that, when compared to lake water and tap water, the removal of calcium and magnesium from dam water is the best. This can be linked to the water matrix’s complexity. Therefore, using Donnan Dialysis to decrease natural waters hardness was revealed to be suitable. Full article
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Review

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47 pages, 10022 KiB  
Review
Research on Membranes and Their Associated Processes at the Université Paris-Est Créteil: Progress Report, Perspectives, and National and International Collaborations
by Lassaad Baklouti, Christian Larchet, Abdelwaheb Hamdi, Naceur Hamdi, Leila Baraket and Lasâad Dammak
Membranes 2023, 13(2), 252; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes13020252 - 20 Feb 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1956
Abstract
Research on membranes and their associated processes was initiated in 1970 at the University of Paris XII/IUT de Créteil, which became in 2010 the University Paris-Est Créteil (UPEC). This research initially focused on the development and applications of pervaporation membranes, then concerned the [...] Read more.
Research on membranes and their associated processes was initiated in 1970 at the University of Paris XII/IUT de Créteil, which became in 2010 the University Paris-Est Créteil (UPEC). This research initially focused on the development and applications of pervaporation membranes, then concerned the metrology of ion-exchange membranes, then expanded to dialysis processes using these membranes, and recently opened to composite membranes and their applications in production or purification processes. Both experimental and fundamental aspects have been developed in parallel. This evolution has been reinforced by an opening to the French and European industries, and to the international scene, especially to the Krasnodar Membrane Institute (Kuban State University—Russia) and to the Department of Chemistry, (Qassim University—Saudi Arabia). Here, we first presented the history of this research activity, then developed the main research axes carried out at UPEC over the 2012–2022 period; then, we gave the main results obtained, and finally, showed the cross contribution of the developed collaborations. We avoided a chronological presentation of these activities and grouped them by theme: composite membranes and ion-exchange membranes. For composite membranes, we have detailed three applications: highly selective lithium-ion extraction, bleach production, and water and industrial effluent treatments. For ion-exchange membranes, we focused on their characterization methods, their use in Neutralization Dialysis for brackish water demineralization, and their fouling and antifouling processes. It appears that the research activities on membranes within UPEC are very dynamic and fruitful, and benefit from scientific exchanges with our Russian partners, which contributed to the development of strong membrane activity on water treatment within Qassim University. Finally, four main perspectives of this research activity were given: the design of autonomous and energy self-sufficient processes, refinement of characterization by Electrochemical Scanning Microscopy, functional membrane separators, and green membrane preparation and use. Full article
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