Cellulose and Nano-Cellulose Based Flexible Membranes

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 February 2022) | Viewed by 20791

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
R&D Laboratory, Hollingworth & Vose Company, West Groton, MA 01452, USA
Interests: nano-cellulose modification and application; fine fiber application in filter media; colloid chemistry, lignin chemistry and application; carbohydrate chemistry

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Guest Editor
Departments of Forest Biomaterials, Chemistry, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
Interests: green chemistry; smart biopolymeric materials; self-healing phenomena; drug delivery approaches; tissue engineering scaffolds; hydrogels
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Special Issue Information

Dear colleagues,

Cellulose is one of the raw materials used for the production of membranes. Using pure cellulose or its derivative solutions in different solvents has been the traditional method. During the last decade, nanofibrillar cellulose (NFC) and cellulose nano-crystal (CNC) films with enhanced barrier characteristics have also been investigated for the production of highly oriented super strong films or membranes. Cellulose-based film or fibrous membranes have a wide range of applications including water treatment, heavy metals and dye removal, biomedical applications, toxic gas barrier, catalytic membrane, and many others. In this Special Issue, we are going to publish the last updated research results to cover 1) the methods of nano-cellulose-based membrane production; 2) the nano-cellulose-based membrane application; and 3) the test and evaluation methods for this type of membrane. It is our hope that the researchers will want to share their research results in this Special Issue. Some of the topics are listed here. However, please feel free to collaborate with us on any other topics related to this Special Issue title:

  • Nano-cellulose-based membrane for water treatment;
  • Nano-cellulose-based membrane for heavy metal and dye removal;
  • Nano-cellulose based membrane application as fuel cell;
  • Functionalized nano-cellulose-based membrane;
  • Composite nano-cellulose membrane;
  • Nano-cellulose-based membrane in medical applications;
  • Catalytic nano-cellulose-based membrane;
  • Any other application.

Kind regards,

Dr. Hasan Sadeghifar
Dr. Lucian Lucia
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • membrane
  • nano-crystalline cellulose
  • micro-fibrillated cellulose
  • catalytic membrane
  • biomedical membrane

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 2277 KiB  
Article
High-Performance and Water Resistant PVA-Based Films Modified by Air Plasma Treatment
by Xin Rao, Qi Zhou, Qin Wen, Zhiqiang Ou, Lingying Fu, Yue Gong, Xueyu Du and Chunqing Huo
Membranes 2022, 12(3), 249; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes12030249 - 22 Feb 2022
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2958
Abstract
Plasma treatment is considered a straightforward, cost-effective, and environmental-friendly technique for surface modification of film materials. In this study, air plasma treatment was applied for performance improvement of pure PVA, cellulose nanocrystal (CNC)/PVA, and CNC/oxalic acid (OA)/PVA films. Compared with the original performance [...] Read more.
Plasma treatment is considered a straightforward, cost-effective, and environmental-friendly technique for surface modification of film materials. In this study, air plasma treatment was applied for performance improvement of pure PVA, cellulose nanocrystal (CNC)/PVA, and CNC/oxalic acid (OA)/PVA films. Compared with the original performance of pure PVA, the mechanical properties and water resistance of air plasma treated films were greatly improved. Among them, the CNC/OA/PVA film treated by three minutes of air plasma irradiation exhibits the most remarkable performance in mechanical properties (tensile strength: 132.7 MPa; Young’s modulus: 5379.9 MPa) and water resistance (degree of swelling: 47.5%; solubility: 6.0%). By means of various modern characterization methods, the wettability, surface chemical structure, surface roughness, and thermal stability of different films before and after air plasma treatment were further revealed. Based on the results obtained, the air plasma treatment only changed the surface chemical structure, surface roughness, and hydrophobicity, while keeping the inner structure of films intact. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cellulose and Nano-Cellulose Based Flexible Membranes)
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14 pages, 5511 KiB  
Article
Preparation and Characterization of Regenerated Cellulose Membrane Blended with ZrO2 Nanoparticles
by Xin Huang, Feng Tian, Guohong Chen, Fanan Wang, Rengui Weng and Beidou Xi
Membranes 2022, 12(1), 42; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes12010042 - 28 Dec 2021
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 3613
Abstract
It is of great significance to search for efficient, renewable, biodegradable and economical membrane materials. Herein, we developed an organic-inorganic hybrid regenerated cellulose membrane (ZrO2/BCM) with excellent hydrophilic and anti-fouling properties. The membrane was prepared by introducing ZrO2 particles into [...] Read more.
It is of great significance to search for efficient, renewable, biodegradable and economical membrane materials. Herein, we developed an organic-inorganic hybrid regenerated cellulose membrane (ZrO2/BCM) with excellent hydrophilic and anti-fouling properties. The membrane was prepared by introducing ZrO2 particles into an N-Methylmorpholine-N-oxide(NMMO)/bamboo cellulose(BC) solution system by the phase inversion method. The physi-chemical structure of the membranes were characterized based on thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The modified regenerated cellulose membrane has the excellent rejection of bovine serum albumin (BSA) and anti-fouling performance. The membrane flux of ZrO2/BCM is 321.49 (L/m2·h), and the rejection rate of BSA is 91.2%. Moreover, the membrane flux recovery rate after cleaning with deionized water was 90.6%. This new type of separation membrane prepared with green materials holds broad application potential in water purification and wastewater treatment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cellulose and Nano-Cellulose Based Flexible Membranes)
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11 pages, 2623 KiB  
Article
Study on the Preparation of Cellulose Acetate Separation Membrane and New Adjusting Method of Pore Size
by Jianming Wang, Hongchen Song, Longfei Ren, Md Eman Talukder, Shunquan Chen and Jiahui Shao
Membranes 2022, 12(1), 9; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes12010009 - 23 Dec 2021
Cited by 23 | Viewed by 7846
Abstract
As a kind of eco-friendly (biodegradable) material and with a natural anti-fouling ability, cellulose acetate (CA) is more suitable for single-use membrane (especially in bioprocess). In this study, the method for preparing CA membrane by Vapor-assisted Nonsolvent Induced Phase Separation (VNIPS) was studied. [...] Read more.
As a kind of eco-friendly (biodegradable) material and with a natural anti-fouling ability, cellulose acetate (CA) is more suitable for single-use membrane (especially in bioprocess). In this study, the method for preparing CA membrane by Vapor-assisted Nonsolvent Induced Phase Separation (VNIPS) was studied. The influences of ratio compositions (solid content, acetone/N,N-Dimethylacetamide ratio, glycerol/CA ratio) and membrane preparation conditions (evaporation time, evaporation temperature and humidity) on the microstructure and other properties were systematically evaluated. Results indicated that acetone/N,N-Dimethylacetamide ratio and glycerol/CA ratio had great influence on the cross-section structure of membranes. Additionally, the membrane with homogeneous sponge-like porous structure could be prepared stably within certain limits of ratios. Under the premise of keeping the content of other components fixed, the separation membrane with a full sponge pore structure can be obtained when the ratio of glycerol/CA is ≥2.5 or the acetone/solvent ratio is between 0.25 and 0.5. Evaporation time and temperature, humidity and other membrane preparation conditions mainly affected the surface morphology and the pore size. This kind of high-performance membrane with homogeneous sponge-like pore and controllable surface morphology could be potentially used for bioseparation processes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cellulose and Nano-Cellulose Based Flexible Membranes)
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23 pages, 3892 KiB  
Article
Electrospun Magnetic Nanocellulose–Polyethersulfone-Conjugated Aspergillus oryzae Lipase for Synthesis of Ethyl Valerate
by Nurul Hidayah Hussin, Roswanira Abdul Wahab, Nursyafiqah Elias, Adikwu Gowon Jacob, Mohamad Hamdi Zainal-Abidin, Faizuan Abdullah, Nurul Jannah Sulaiman and Mailin Misson
Membranes 2021, 11(12), 972; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes11120972 - 9 Dec 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3131
Abstract
A novel greener MNC/PES membrane was developed through an electrospinning technique for lipase immobilization to catalyze the synthesis of ethyl valerate (EV). In this study, the covalent immobilization of Aspergillus oryzae lipase (AOL) onto an electrospun nanofibrous membrane consisting of magnetic nanocellulose (MNC) [...] Read more.
A novel greener MNC/PES membrane was developed through an electrospinning technique for lipase immobilization to catalyze the synthesis of ethyl valerate (EV). In this study, the covalent immobilization of Aspergillus oryzae lipase (AOL) onto an electrospun nanofibrous membrane consisting of magnetic nanocellulose (MNC) and polyethersulfone (PES) to produce EV was statistically optimized. Raman spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy: attenuated total reflection, field emission scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), and differential thermal gravimetric (DTG) of MNC/PES-AOL demonstrated that AOL was successfully immobilized onto the fibers. The Taguchi design-assisted immobilization of AOL onto MNC/PES fibers identified that 1.10 mg/mL protein loading, 4 mL reaction volume, 250 rpm stirring rate, and 50 °C were optimal to yield 72.09% of EV in 24 h. The thermal stability of MNC/PES-AOL was improved by ≈20% over the free AOL, with reusability for up to five consecutive esterification cycles while demonstrating an exceptional half-life of 120 h. Briefly, the electrospun MNC/PES fibers that immobilized AOL showed promising applicability in yielding relatively good EV levels. This study suggests that using MNC as fillers in a PES to improve AOL activity and durability for a longer catalytic process could be a viable option. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cellulose and Nano-Cellulose Based Flexible Membranes)
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19 pages, 5913 KiB  
Article
Matching the Cellulose/Silica Films Surface Properties for Design of Biomaterials That Modulate Extracellular Matrix
by Adina-Maria Dobos, Elena-Laura Ursu, Luiza-Madalina Gradinaru, Marius Dobromir and Anca Filimon
Membranes 2021, 11(11), 840; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes11110840 - 29 Oct 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2011
Abstract
The surface properties of composite films are important to know for many applications from the industrial domain to the medical domain. The physical and chemical characteristics of film/membrane surfaces are totally different from those of the bulk due to the surface segregation of [...] Read more.
The surface properties of composite films are important to know for many applications from the industrial domain to the medical domain. The physical and chemical characteristics of film/membrane surfaces are totally different from those of the bulk due to the surface segregation of the low surface energy components. Thus, the surfaces of cellulose acetate/silica composite films are analyzed in order to obtain information on the morphology, topography and wettability through atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and contact angle investigations. The studied composite films present different surface properties depending on the tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) content from the casting solutions. Up to a content of 1.5 wt.% TEOS, the surface roughness and hydrophobicity increase, after which there is a decrease in these parameters. This behavior suggests that up to a critical amount of TEOS, the results are influenced by the morphology and topographical features, after which a major role seems to be played by surface chemistry—increasing the oxygenation surfaces. The morphological and chemical details and also the hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity characteristics are discussed in the attempt to design biological surfaces with optimal wettability properties and possibility of application in tissue engineering. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cellulose and Nano-Cellulose Based Flexible Membranes)
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