Membranes for Environmental Engineering

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 January 2020) | Viewed by 16694

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Institut Européen des Membranes IEM, University of Montpellier-ENSCM-CNRS, 34095 Montpellier, France
Interests: water treatment; electrochemical advanced oxidation processes (EAOP); reactive electrochemical membranes (REM)
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Guest Editor
Department of Chemical Engineering, Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi P.O. Box 127788, United Arab Emirates
Interests: catalytic membrane reactors; nanoporous membranes; solvent separation; advanced characterization
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We would like to invite you to submit original research or review papers to this Special Issue of Membranes—the open access journal of membrane technology.

For the development of environmental technologies, membranes play a crucial role in growing fields such as gas separation and production or water and gas treatment.

The aim of this Special Issue is to propose an overview of the up-to-date research that is being conducted in the field, through the online publication of articles or reviews, focusing more specifically on membranes’ tailoring and their integration into environmental processes for gas and liquid treatment and/or separation.

Prof. Dr. Marc Cretin
Dr. Ludovic Dumée
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 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.

Keywords

  • gas separation and/or production
  • water treatment
  • photocatalytic membranes
  • electrocatalytic membranes
  • reactive electrochemical membranes
  • biomimicking membranes
  • air filtration
  • thermally responsive membranes

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 4742 KiB  
Article
Mixed Matrix Poly(Vinyl Alcohol)-Copper Nanofibrous Anti-Microbial Air-Microfilters
by Elise des Ligneris, Ludovic F. Dumée, Riyadh Al-Attabi, Erwan Castanet, Jürg Schütz and Lingxue Kong
Membranes 2019, 9(7), 87; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes9070087 - 17 Jul 2019
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 4431
Abstract
Membranes decorated with biocide materials have shown great potential for air sanitization but can suffer from biocide agent leaching by dissolution in water. In order to tackle the diffusion of biocide metal ions from the fiber matrix, composite nanofiber membranes of poly(vinyl alcohol) [...] Read more.
Membranes decorated with biocide materials have shown great potential for air sanitization but can suffer from biocide agent leaching by dissolution in water. In order to tackle the diffusion of biocide metal ions from the fiber matrix, composite nanofiber membranes of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) cross-linked with copper (II) acetate have been successfully engineered via sol–gel electrospinning, providing a stable mean for air bactericidal microfiltration. The novelty lies in the bonding strength and homogeneous distribution of the fiber surface biocide, where biocide metals are incorporated as a sol within a polymer matrix. The electrospinning of bead-free composite nanofibers offered over 99.5% filtration efficiency for PM2.5, with a theoretical permeance above 98%. The PVA/copper nanofiber membranes also showed satisfactory anti-bacterial performance against the gram-negative Escherichia coli within 24 h, making them promising materials for the remediation of airborne bacteria. The mechanical and chemical stability of the engineered nanocomposite electrospun nanofiber webs added to the natural biodegradability of the materials, by offering ideal low-cost sanitary solutions for the application of air disinfection in both indoor and outdoor fitting a circular economy strategy where advanced materials are redesigned to be sustainable. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Membranes for Environmental Engineering)
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23 pages, 8529 KiB  
Article
Transport Characteristics of Fujifilm Ion-Exchange Membranes as Compared to Homogeneous Membranes АМХ and СМХ and to Heterogeneous Membranes MK-40 and MA-41
by Veronika Sarapulova, Inna Shkorkina, Semyon Mareev, Natalia Pismenskaya, Natalia Kononenko, Christian Larchet, Lasaad Dammak and Victor Nikonenko
Membranes 2019, 9(7), 84; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes9070084 - 14 Jul 2019
Cited by 76 | Viewed by 8231
Abstract
Ion-exchange membranes (IEMs) find more and more applications; the success of an application depends on the properties of the membranes selected for its realization. For the first time, the results of a comprehensive characterization of the transport properties of IEMs from three manufactures [...] Read more.
Ion-exchange membranes (IEMs) find more and more applications; the success of an application depends on the properties of the membranes selected for its realization. For the first time, the results of a comprehensive characterization of the transport properties of IEMs from three manufactures (Astom, Japan; Shchekinoazot, Russia; and Fujifilm, The Netherlands) are reported. Our own and literature data are presented and analyzed using the microheterogeneous model. Homogeneous Neosepta AMX and CMX (Astom), heterogeneous MA-41 and MK-40 (Shchekinoazot), and AEM Type-I, AEM Type-II, AEM Type-X, as well as CEM Type-I, CEM Type-II, and CEM Type-X produced by the electrospinning method (Fujifim) were studied. The concentration dependencies of the conductivity, diffusion permeability, as well as the real and apparent ion transport numbers in these membranes were measured. The counterion transport number characterizing the membrane permselectivity increases in the following order: CEM Type-I ≅ MA-41 < AEM Type-I < MK-40 < CMX ≅ CEM Type-II ≅ CEM Type-X ≅ AEM Type-II < AMX < AEM Type-X. It is shown that the properties of the AEM Type-I and CEM Type-I membranes are close to those of the heterogeneous MA-41 and MK-40 membranes, while the properties of Fujifilm Type-II and Type-X membranes are close to those of the homogeneous AMX and CMX membranes. This difference is related to the fact that the Type-I membranes have a relatively high parameter f2, the volume fraction of the electroneutral solution filling the intergel spaces. This high value is apparently due to the open-ended pores, formed by the reinforcing fabric filaments of the Type-I membranes, which protrude above the surface of these membranes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Membranes for Environmental Engineering)
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11 pages, 1866 KiB  
Article
Ceramic Membranes Photocatalytically Functionalized on the Permeate Side and Their Application to Water Treatment
by André Ayral
Membranes 2019, 9(5), 64; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes9050064 - 23 May 2019
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3464
Abstract
This work deals with direct coupling of membrane separation and photocatalytic degradation by using photocatalytic ceramic membranes. An unusual configuration is considered here, with the irradiation applied on the permeate side of the membrane in order to mineralize small organic molecules not retained [...] Read more.
This work deals with direct coupling of membrane separation and photocatalytic degradation by using photocatalytic ceramic membranes. An unusual configuration is considered here, with the irradiation applied on the permeate side of the membrane in order to mineralize small organic molecules not retained by the membrane. Different types of such membranes are presented. Their functional performance is quantified thanks to a simple experimental method enabling the estimation of the specific degradation rate δ, i.e., the quantity of destroyed organic molecules per unit of time and of membrane surface area. The relevance of δ for the design and scale-up of purification units is then illustrated. Finally, current technological challenges and potential solutions concerning the industrial implementation of such photocatalytic membranes are discussed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Membranes for Environmental Engineering)
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