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Membrane Separation Systems: Design and Applications

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2023) | Viewed by 3346

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Special Issue Editors

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue on ‘Membrane Separation Systems: Design and Applications’ aims to explore recent developments in membrane technology, particularly regarding the ways in which such technology can be practically applied to problems in chemical separation. Membrane separation technology is ubiquitous, with far-reaching industrial applications in (but not limited to) desalination, water purification, pharmaceuticals, food chemistry, recycling, the resources sector, and chemical analysis. As such, developments in membrane technology have the potential to improve the cost-effectiveness, sustainability, and efficiency of industrial processes at the global scale.

This Special Issue explores cutting-edge developments in the design of membrane separation systems to address a chemical separation problem or application. There are no restrictions on the type of membrane (i.e., reverse osmosis, ion-exchange, liquid membranes, etc.), and technology combining different membrane types is also within the scope of this Special Issue. This issue is open to researchers associated with membrane technologies in all fields, and covers a broad range of potential topics where the rational design of membranes for a given purpose is evident. Submissions may include (but are not limited to) laboratory-scale systems, industrial systems, membrane manufacturing, selectivity and separation efficiency studies, operating conditions and stability studies, and the evaluation or comparison of different extraction systems for a specific application.

We invite authors to submit original research articles, review papers, and short communications to this Special Issue.

Dr. Edward A. Nagul
Dr. Maria Inês G. S. Almeida
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

membrane extraction
membrane separation
extraction system
membrane technology
separation performance
membrane manufacturing

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 8704 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Differences in the Effect of Mn²⁺ on the Reverse Osmosis Membrane Fouling Caused by Different Types of Organic Matter: Experimental and Density Functional Theory Evidence

by Qiusheng Gao, Liang Duan, Yanyan Jia, Hengliang Zhang, Jianing Liu and Wei Yang

Membranes 2023, 13(10), 823; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes13100823 - 5 Oct 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1207

Abstract

Landfill leachate from some sites contains a high concentration of Mn²⁺, which may cause reverse osmosis (RO) membrane fouling during RO treatment. In this study, the effect of Mn²⁺ on RO membrane fouling caused by typical organic pollutants (humic acid (HA), protein (BSA), and sodium alginate (SA)) was systematically investigated, and it was found that Mn²⁺ exacerbates RO membrane fouling caused by HA, SA, and HBS (mixture of HA + BSA + SA). When the Mn²⁺ concentration was 0.5 mM and 0.05 mM separately, the membrane fouling caused by HA and SA began to become significant. On the other hand, with for HBS fouling only, the water flux decreased significantly by about 21.7% and further decreased with an increasing Mn²⁺ concentration. However, Mn²⁺ has no direct effect on BSA. The effect degrees to which Mn²⁺ affected RO membrane fouling can be expressed as follows: HBS > SA > HA > BSA. The density functional theory (DFT) calculations also gave the same results. In modeling the reaction of the complexation of Mn²⁺ with the carboxyl group in these four types of organic matter, BSA has the highest energy (−55.7 kJ/mol), which predicts that BSA binding to Mn²⁺ is the most unstable compared to other organic matter. The BSA carboxylate group also has the largest bond length (2.538–2.574 Å) with Mn²⁺ and the weakest interaction force, which provides a theoretical basis for controlling RO membrane fouling exacerbated by Mn²⁺. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Membrane Separation Systems: Design and Applications)

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Review

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15 pages, 2596 KiB

Open AccessReview

A Comprehensive Analysis of the Impact of Inorganic Matter on Membrane Organic Fouling: A Mini Review

by Qiusheng Gao, Liang Duan, Yanyan Jia, Hengliang Zhang, Jianing Liu and Wei Yang

Membranes 2023, 13(10), 837; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes13100837 - 20 Oct 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1522

Abstract

Membrane fouling is a non-negligible issue affecting the performance of membrane systems. Particularly, organic fouling is the most persistent and severe form of fouling. The complexation between inorganic and organic matter may exacerbate membrane organic fouling. This mini review systematically analyzes the role of inorganic matter in membrane organic fouling. Inorganic substances, such as metal ions and silica, can interact with organic foulants like humic acids, polysaccharides, and proteins through ionic bonding, hydrogen bonding, coordination, and van der Waals interactions. These interactions facilitate the formation of larger aggregates that exacerbate fouling, especially for reverse osmosis membranes. Molecular simulations using molecular dynamics (MD) and density functional theory (DFT) provide valuable mechanistic insights complementing fouling experiments. Polysaccharide fouling is mainly governed by transparent exopolymer particle (TEP) formations induced by inorganic ion bridging. Inorganic coagulants like aluminum and iron salts mitigate fouling for ultrafiltration but not reverse osmosis membranes. This review summarizes the effects of critical inorganic constituents on fouling by major organic foulants, providing an important reference for membrane fouling modeling and fouling control strategies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Membrane Separation Systems: Design and Applications)

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