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Membranes
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State-of-the-Art Membrane Science and Technology in Italy 2021, 2022
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State-of-the-Art Membrane Science and Technology in Italy 2021, 2022

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (16 December 2022) | Viewed by 9756

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Gianluca Di Profio

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Consiglio Nazionale delle Riceche (CNR), Istituto per la Tecnologia delle Membrane (ITM), Università della Calabria, Via Pietro Bucci Cubo 17/C, Rende, CS, Italy
Interests: membrane science and technology; crystallization—fundamentals and operations; water treatment processes; membranes materials—design and development; bioseparation and downstream processes
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Membranes and membrane operations have been receiving increasing interest since several decades, with significant involvements in water purification and desalination, where they have become the dominant technologies. However, the constant development of new membranes materials and configurations is essential to support and to expand the growing attention in those and in new advanced sectors like energy production (fuel cells, hydrogen production, salinity gradients), biotechnology, healthcare and medical applications (tissue engineering, artificial organs, regenerative medicine, in-vitro devices), gas separations and intensified manufacturing processes, to cite only a few.

Membrane science and technology is today one of the fast-growing and multidisciplinary research areas also in Italy. Academic scientists and industries in Italy have now demonstrated a strong commitment to promoting the advancements of membranes operations, considered as the future of the technology development in several strategic sectors in the fields of water, energy, health and environment.

This Special Issue aims to highlight and to promote recent advances in membrane science and technology research in Italy, through publishing original research and review papers. Topics of particular interest, but are not limited to, include:

  • Sustainable membranes manufacture processes and advanced membrane characterization tools
  • Membranes for medical, biotechnological and healthcare applications
  • Membrane reactors, bioreactors and photoreactors
  • Membranes for advanced separations and high-tech applications
  • Membrane contactors: crystallizers, condensers, distillers, emulsifiers
  • Membranes and membrane operations in agro-food and (bio)pharmaceutical industry
  • Membranes for environmental remediation and mining from waste streams
  • Membranes for green chemistry applications and sustainable processes
  • Membranes for energy production from salinity gradients
  • Membranes and membrane operations for renewable hydrogen production
  • Membranes for gas separations and carbon capture & storage
  • Modelling and simulations of membrane transport and membrane-based processes operation

Dr. Gianluca Di Profio
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 (4 papers)

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Research

28 pages, 6535 KiB  
Article
Development of a Membrane Module Prototype for Oxygen Separation in Industrial Applications
by Francesca Drago, Paolo Fedeli, Angelo Cavaliere, Andrea Cammi, Stefano Passoni, Riccardo Mereu, Stefano De La Pierre, Federico Smeacetto and Monica Ferraris
Membranes 2022, 12(2), 167; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes12020167 - 30 Jan 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2333
Abstract
The integration of oxygen transport membranes in industrial processes can lead to energy and economic advantages, but proof of concept membrane modules are highly necessary to demonstrate the feasibility of this technology. In this work, we describe the development of a lab-scale module [...] Read more.
The integration of oxygen transport membranes in industrial processes can lead to energy and economic advantages, but proof of concept membrane modules are highly necessary to demonstrate the feasibility of this technology. In this work, we describe the development of a lab-scale module through a comprehensive study that takes into consideration all the relevant technological aspects to achieve a prototype ready to be operated in industrial environment. We employed scalable techniques to manufacture planar La0.6Sr0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O3-δ membrane components suitable for the application in both 3- and 4-end mode, designed with a geometry that guarantees a failure probability under real operating conditions as low as 2.2 × 10−6. The asymmetric membranes that act as separation layers showed a permeation of approx. 3 NmL/min/cm2 at 900 °C in air/He gradient, with a remarkable stability up to 720 h, and we used permeation results to develop a CFD model that describes the influence of the working conditions on the module performance. The housing of the membrane component is an Inconel 625 case joined to the membrane component by means of a custom-developed glass–ceramic sealant that exhibited a remarkable thermo-chemical compatibility both with metal and ceramic, despite the appearance of chemical strain in LSCF at high temperature. The multi-disciplinary approach followed in this work is suitable to be adapted to other module concepts based on membrane components with different dimensions, layouts or materials. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue State-of-the-Art Membrane Science and Technology in Italy 2021, 2022)
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13 pages, 3039 KiB  
Article
Multifunctional Membranes Based on β-Glucans and Chitosan Useful in Wound Treatment
by Sonia Trombino, Federica Curcio, Maria Luisa Di Gioia, Biagio Armentano, Teresa Poerio and Roberta Cassano
Membranes 2022, 12(2), 121; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes12020121 - 20 Jan 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2046
Abstract
In this work, bio-based membranes prepared using a crosslinked β-glucans–chitosan dispersed in the chitosan matrix useful in promoting wound healing were studied for the first-time. Wound healing is a process that includes sequential steps designed to restore the structure and function of damaged [...] Read more.
In this work, bio-based membranes prepared using a crosslinked β-glucans–chitosan dispersed in the chitosan matrix useful in promoting wound healing were studied for the first-time. Wound healing is a process that includes sequential steps designed to restore the structure and function of damaged cells and tissue. To minimize damage and the risk of infection during the healing process and to promote restoration of the integrity of damaged tissue, the wound should be dressed. Generally, according to their function in the wound, dressings are classified on the basis of type of material and physical form. The substances used to make a dressing are generally natural polymers such as hydrocolloids, alginates, polyurethane, collagen, chitosan, pectin and hyaluronic acid. The combination of polymeric substances, with antibacterial and antioxidant properties, could be exploited in the biomedical field for the development of biocompatible materials able to act as a barrier between the wound and the external environment, protecting the site from bacterial contamination and promoting healing. To this aim, bio-based membranes were prepared by the phase inversion induced by solvent evaporation, using the crosslinked β-glucans–chitosan obtained by esterification reactions as a functional additive in the chitosan membrane. The reaction intermediates and the final products were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) while the morphological properties of membranes were analyzed using electronic scanning microscopy (SEM). The chemical bonding between chitosan and β-glucans allowed for the obtainment of a better dispersion of the combined new material into the membrane’s matrix and as a consequence, an enhanced antibacterial property evaluated through in vitro tests, with respect to the starting materials. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue State-of-the-Art Membrane Science and Technology in Italy 2021, 2022)
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14 pages, 5007 KiB  
Article
A Single Step Preparation of Photothermally Active Polyvinylidene Fluoride Membranes Using Triethyl Phosphate as a Green Solvent for Distillation Applications
by Marcello Pagliero, Antonio Comite, Camilla Costa, Ilaria Rizzardi and Omar Soda
Membranes 2021, 11(11), 896; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes11110896 - 19 Nov 2021
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2203
Abstract
Membrane distillation is a growing technology that can address the growing problem of water shortage. The implementation of renewable energy and a reduction in the environmental impact of membrane production could improve the sustainability of this process. With this perspective, porous hydrophobic polyvinylidene [...] Read more.
Membrane distillation is a growing technology that can address the growing problem of water shortage. The implementation of renewable energy and a reduction in the environmental impact of membrane production could improve the sustainability of this process. With this perspective, porous hydrophobic polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membranes were prepared using triethyl phosphate (TEP) as a green solvent, using the non-solvent induced phase separation technique. Different amounts of carbon black were added to dope solutions to improve the photothermal properties of the membranes and to enable direct heating by solar energy. By optimizing the preparation conditions, membranes with porosity values as high as 87% were manufactured. Vacuum membrane distillation tests carried out using a concentrated NaCl solution at 50 °C showed distillate fluxes of up to 36 L/m2 h and a complete salt rejection. Some preliminary studies on the photothermal performance were also conducted and highlighted the possibility of using such membranes in a direct solar membrane distillation configuration. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue State-of-the-Art Membrane Science and Technology in Italy 2021, 2022)
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14 pages, 2454 KiB  
Article
A Theoretical Analysis on a Multi-Bed Pervaporation Membrane Reactor during Levulinic Acid Esterification Using the Computational Fluid Dynamic Method
by Milad Ghahremani, Kamran Ghasemzadeh, Elham Jalilnejad and Adolfo Iulianelli
Membranes 2021, 11(8), 635; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes11080635 - 17 Aug 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2056
Abstract
Pervaporation is a peculiar membrane separation process, which is considered for integration with a variety of reactions in promising new applications. Pervaporation membrane reactors have some specific uses in sustainable chemistry, such as the esterification processes. This theoretical study based on the computational [...] Read more.
Pervaporation is a peculiar membrane separation process, which is considered for integration with a variety of reactions in promising new applications. Pervaporation membrane reactors have some specific uses in sustainable chemistry, such as the esterification processes. This theoretical study based on the computational fluid dynamics method aims to evaluate the performance of a multi-bed pervaporation membrane reactor (including poly (vinyl alcohol) membrane) to produce ethyl levulinate as a significant fuel additive, coming from the esterification of levulinic acid. For comparison, an equivalent multi-bed traditional reactor is also studied at the same operating conditions of the aforementioned pervaporation membrane reactor. A computational fluid dynamics model was developed and validated by experimental literature data. The effects of reaction temperature, catalyst loading, feed molar ratio, and feed flow rate on the reactor’s performance in terms of levulinic acid conversion and water removal were hence studied. The simulations indicated that the multi-bed pervaporation membrane reactor results to be the best solution over the multi-bed traditional reactor, presenting the best simulation results at 343 K, 2 bar, catalyst loading 8.6 g, feed flow rate 7 mm3/s, and feed molar ratio 3 with levulinic acid conversion equal to 95.3% and 91.1% water removal. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue State-of-the-Art Membrane Science and Technology in Italy 2021, 2022)
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