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13 pages, 1365 KiB

Open AccessReview

The Treatment of Endocrine-Disruptive Chemicals in Wastewater through Asymmetric Reverse Osmosis Membranes: A Review

Mohd Sohaimi Abdullah

Pei Sean Goh

Ahmad Fauzi Ismail

and

Hasrinah Hasbullah

Symmetry 2023, 15(5), 1049; https://doi.org/10.3390/sym15051049 - 09 May 2023

Viewed by 1097

Abstract

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) present in aquatic environment have been regarded as detrimental organic pollutants that pose significant adverse impacts on human health and the aquatic ecosystem. The removal of EDCs is highly desired to mitigate their harmful effects. Physical treatment through membrane-based separation processes is an attractive approach, as it can effectively remove a wide range of recalcitrant organic and nonorganic EDCs. In particular, the reverse osmosis (RO) process has shown promise in removing EDCs of various concentrations and from different sources. Recently, the development of innovative asymmetric RO membranes has become the forefront in this field. Various membrane modification strategies have been commenced to address the limitations of commercial membranes. This review provides an overview of the recent advances in asymmetric RO membranes for EDC removal from water and wastewater system. The potential areas of improvement for RO processes and RO membranes are also highlighted. Based on the existing literature using RO for EDC removal from water, the most investigated EDCs are bisphenol A (BPA) and caffeine in the concentration range of 200 ppb to 100 ppm. Polyamide RO membranes have been shown to remove EDCs from water bodies with a removal efficiency of ~30 to 99%, largely depending on the type and concentration of the treated EDCs, as well as the properties of the RO membranes. It has been demonstrated that the performance can be further heightened by tailoring the properties of RO membranes and optimizing the operating conditions of the RO process. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Asymmetric Membranes: Volume 2)

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22 pages, 1914 KiB

Open AccessReview

Recent Advances in Metal-Organic Framework (MOF) Asymmetric Membranes/Composites for Biomedical Applications

Farrokhfar Valizadeh Harzand

Seyyed Navid Mousavi Nejad

Aziz Babapoor

Seyyed Mojtaba Mousavi

Seyyed Alireza Hashemi

Ahmad Gholami

Wei-Hung Chiang

Maria Giovanna Buonomenna

and

Chin Wei Lai

Symmetry 2023, 15(2), 403; https://doi.org/10.3390/sym15020403 - 03 Feb 2023

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2698

Abstract

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are a new class of porous crystalline materials composed of metal and organic material. MOFs have fascinating properties, such as fine tunability, large specific surface area, and high porosity. MOFs are widely used for environmental protection, biosensors, regenerative medicine, medical engineering, cell therapy, catalysts, and drug delivery. Recent studies have reported various significant properties of MOFs for biomedical applications, such as drug detection and delivery. In contrast, MOFs have limitations such as low stability and low specificity in binding to the target. MOF-based membranes improve the stability and specificity of conventional MOFs by increasing the surface area and developing the possibility of MOF-ligand binding, while conjugated membranes dramatically increase the area of active functional groups. This special property makes them attractive for drug and biosensor fabrication, as both the spreading and solubility components of the porosity can be changed. Asymmetric membranes are a structure with high potential in the biomedical field, due to the different characteristics on its two surfaces, the possibility of adjusting various properties such as the size of porosity, transfer rate and selectivity, and surface properties such as hydrophilicity and hydrophobicity. MOF assisted asymmetric membranes can provide a platform with different properties and characteristics in the biomedical field. The latest version of MOF materials/membranes has several potential applications, especially in medical engineering, cell therapy, drug delivery, and regenerative medicine, which will be discussed in this review, along with their advantages, disadvantages, and challenges. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Asymmetric Membranes: Volume 2)

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10 pages, 1230 KiB

Open AccessReview

Mining Critical Metals from Seawater by Subnanostructured Membranes: Is It Viable?

Maria Giovanna Buonomenna

Symmetry 2022, 14(4), 681; https://doi.org/10.3390/sym14040681 - 25 Mar 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1865

Abstract

The continuous demand for energy-critical elements such as lithium, cobalt, uranium and so on will soon exceed their availability increasing further their significance of geopolitical resources. Seawater is a relevant, not conventional source of critical metals. Synthetic membranes with subnanometer pores are the core of processes such as desalination for separating solutes from water. These membrane processes have achieved remarkable success at industrial level. However, state-of-the-art desalination membranes cannot selectively separate a single metal ion from a mixture of ions. In this review the challenges of membranes with subnanometer pores to selectivity discriminate among different metal ions are briefly discussed. The key points of the molecular-level mechanism that contribute to energy barrier for ions transport through subnanometer pores are highlighted to provide guidelines for the design of single-metal ion selective membranes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Asymmetric Membranes: Volume 2)

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