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Membranes
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Environmentally Conscious Development of Membrane Separations
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Environmentally Conscious Development of Membrane Separations

A special issue of Membranes (ISSN 2077-0375). This special issue belongs to the section "Membrane Applications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 February 2023) | Viewed by 5139

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Weiyi Li

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China
Interests: membrane distillation; forward osmosis; biopolymer-based membranes; membrane fouling; process simulation; optical coherence tomography
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Separations are ubiquitous in industrial applications, ranging from the production of chemicals to the management for improving the environment. As an emerging unit operation, membrane technology not only plays an important role in separation processes but also holds promise for achieving sustainable development in the context of lowering the energy consumption and reducing the environmental footprint. However, advancing membrane separations still faces various challenges. On the one hand, the efficiency of membrane processes needs to be further enhanced by mitigating the negative effects (e.g., the fouling and polarization phenomena) or optimizing filtration performance of the membrane. On the other hand, the use of synthetical polymers for the membrane fabrication raises environmental concerns (e.g., the depletion of fossil-based resources, the use of organic solvents, and the disposal of non-biodegradable materials). 

This Special Issue is intended to report recent advances in membrane separations that address these sustainability-related challenges. Research articles and reviews are all welcome to cover (but not limited to) the following topics: (i) efficiency-enhancing techniques for membrane separations; (ii) novel methods for green fabrication of membranes; (iii) effective strategies for minimizing negative impacts of membrane separations on the environment.         

I look forward to receiving your contributions. 

Dr. Weiyi Li
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 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.

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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13 pages, 2044 KiB  
Article
High Flux Nanofiltration Membranes with Double-Walled Carbon Nanotube (DWCNT) as the Interlayer
by Zhen Wang, Xiaojuan Wang, Tao Zheng, Bing Mo, Huacheng Xu, Yijun Huang, Jian Wang, Congjie Gao and Xueli Gao
Membranes 2022, 12(10), 1011; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes12101011 - 19 Oct 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1565
Abstract
Nanofiltration (NF) membranes with a high permeability and rejection are of great interest in desalination, separation and purification. However, how to improve the permeation and separation performance still poses a great challenge in the preparation of NF membranes. Herein, the novel composite NF [...] Read more.
Nanofiltration (NF) membranes with a high permeability and rejection are of great interest in desalination, separation and purification. However, how to improve the permeation and separation performance still poses a great challenge in the preparation of NF membranes. Herein, the novel composite NF membrane was prepared through the interfacial polymerization of M-phenylenediamine (MPD) and trimesoyl chloride (TMC) on a double-walled carbon nanotube (DWCNT) interlayer supported by PES substrate. The DWCNT interlayer had a great impact on the polyamide layer formation. With the increase of the DWCNT dosage, the XPS results revealed an increase in the number of carboxyl groups, which decreased the crosslinking degree of the polyamide layer. Additionally, the AFM results showed that the surface roughness and specific surface area increased gradually. The water flux of the prepared membrane increased from 25.4 L/(m2·h) and 26.6 L/(m2·h) to 109 L/(m2·h) and 104.3 L/(m2·h) with 2000 ppm Na2SO4 and NaCl solution, respectively, under 0.5 MPa. Meanwhile, the rejection of Na2SO4 and NaCl decreased from 99.88% and 99.38% to 96.48% and 60.47%. The proposed method provides a novel insight into the rational design of the multifunctional interlayer, which shows great potential in the preparation of high-performance membranes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmentally Conscious Development of Membrane Separations)
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15 pages, 2529 KiB  
Article
Performance Analysis of a Solar Heating Ammonia Decomposition Membrane Reactor under Co-Current Sweep
by Tianchao Xie, Shaojun Xia, Jialuo Huang, Chao Wang and Qinglong Jin
Membranes 2022, 12(10), 972; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes12100972 - 3 Oct 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1256
Abstract
Ammonia is an excellent medium for solar thermal chemical energy storage and can also use excess heat to produce hydrogen without carbon emission. To deepen the study of ammonia decomposition in these two fields, finite-time thermodynamics is used to model a solar-heating, co-current [...] Read more.
Ammonia is an excellent medium for solar thermal chemical energy storage and can also use excess heat to produce hydrogen without carbon emission. To deepen the study of ammonia decomposition in these two fields, finite-time thermodynamics is used to model a solar-heating, co-current sweeping ammonia decomposition membrane reactor. According to the needs of energy storage systems and solar hydrogen production, five performance indicators are put forward, including the heat absorption rate (HAR), ammonia conversion rate (ACR), hydrogen production rate (HPR), entropy generation rate (EGR) and energy conversion rate (ECR). The effects of the light intensity, ammonia flow rate, nitrogen flow rate and palladium membrane radius on system performances are further analyzed. The results show that the influences of the palladium membrane radius and nitrogen flow rate on reactor performances are very slight. When the light intensity is increased from 500 W/m2 to 800 W/m2, the ACR, EGR, HAR and HPR increase obviously, but the ECR decreases by 14.2%. When the ammonia flow rate is increased by 100%, the ECR, EGR and HPR increase by more than 70%, the HAR increases by 15.6% and the ACR decreases by 12.9%. At the same time, the ammonia flow rate needs to be adjusted with the light intensity. The results can provide some guiding significance for the engineering application of ammonia solar energy storage systems and solar hydrogen production. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmentally Conscious Development of Membrane Separations)
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Review

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19 pages, 4481 KiB  
Review
Dual-Phase Mixed Protonic-Electronic Conducting Hydrogen Separation Membranes: A Review
by Hongda Cheng
Membranes 2022, 12(7), 647; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes12070647 - 24 Jun 2022
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 1856
Abstract
Owing to the excellent properties of high selectivity, high thermal stability, and low cost, in the past twenty years, mixed protonic-electronic conducting hydrogen separation membranes have received extensive attention. In particular, dual-phase mixed protonic-electronic conducting membranes with high ambipolar conductivity are more attractive [...] Read more.
Owing to the excellent properties of high selectivity, high thermal stability, and low cost, in the past twenty years, mixed protonic-electronic conducting hydrogen separation membranes have received extensive attention. In particular, dual-phase mixed protonic-electronic conducting membranes with high ambipolar conductivity are more attractive because of the high hydrogen permeability. This paper aimed to present a review of research activities on the dual-phase membranes, in which the components, the characteristics, and the performances of different dual-phase membranes are introduced. The key issues that affect the membrane performance such as the elimination of the inter-phase reaction, the combination mode of the phases, the phase ratio, and the membrane configuration were discussed. The current problems and future trends were simply recommended. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmentally Conscious Development of Membrane Separations)
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