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Applied Sciences
Special Issues
High-Performance Nanocomposite Membranes and Their Applications
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High-Performance Nanocomposite Membranes and Their Applications

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Nanotechnology and Applied Nanosciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2019) | Viewed by 20328

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Kunli Goh

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Singapore Membrane Technology Centre (SMTC), Nanyang Environment and Water Research Institute (NEWRI), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 637141, Singapore
Interests: carbon nanoarchitectonics; advanced functional nanomaterials; nanocomposite membranes; gas separation; water treatment; hollow fiber membranes
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Li Wei

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2008, Australia
Interests: nanomaterials synthesis and assembly; carbon nanotubes; graphene family materials; water splitting; carbon nanocomposites; antibacterial nanocomposites

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The recent interest in nanocomposite membranes is driven by rapid advances and innovations in nanotechnology and nanomaterials synthesis. To date, many inorganic and organic nanomaterials, such as zeolites, MOFs, ZIFs, COFs, CNTs, graphene-family materials, and 1-D, 2-D, mesoporous and nonporous nanomaterials have been leveraged to realize high separation performances, as well as to enhance the mechanical, antifouling, barrier and wetting properties of membranes. Owing to this promise, nanocomposite membranes have garnered considerable attention from both the academic and industry players.

The purpose of this Special Issue is to cover recent progress in nanocomposite membranes for desalination, wastewater treatment, solvents and resources recovery, gas separation, upgrading and enrichment, pharmaceutical and food industries applications as well as energy harvesting. Particularly, high-quality submissions focusing on modeling and elucidating transport mechanisms of nanocomposite membranes, nanocomposite membrane fabrications, novel nanomaterials synthesis and characterization for membrane applications, (bio)fouling and scaling issues, as well as nanocomposite membranes scaling-up and stability issues are welcome. The range of applications may include (but not limited to) gas separation, pervaporation, reverse-, forward- and pressure-retarded-osmosis, membrane distillation, nano-, ultra-, and micro-filtration, organic solvent nanofiltration, as well as oil/water separation. We are also looking forward to receiving high-quality perspective or opinion papers on the topics above.

Dr. Kunli Goh
Dr. Li Wei
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. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2400 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

  • Nanocomposite designs
  • Nanomaterials designs
  • Flat-sheet membranes
  • Hollow-fiber membranes
  • Thin-film nanocomposite membranes
  • Electrospun membranes
  • Barrier membranes
  • Hydrophobic membranes
  • Responsive membranes

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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13 pages, 3494 KiB  
Communication
Novel Janus Fibrous Membranes with Enhanced Directional Water Vapor Transmission
by Shengnan Tang, Haohong Pi, Yingying Zhang, Jing Wu and Xiuqin Zhang
Appl. Sci. 2019, 9(16), 3302; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app9163302 - 12 Aug 2019
Cited by 17 | Viewed by 4115
Abstract
Novel hydrophobic/hydrophilic Janus fibrous membranes, the poly[4,4′-methylenebis (phenylisocyanate)-alt-1,4-butanediol/di(propylene glycol)/plycaprolactone] (PU) fibrous membrane as the hydrophobic layer and cellulose acetate (CA) fibrous membrane as the hydrophilic layer, were fabricated by the so-called “layer-by-layer” electrospinning technology. A series of the PU/CA Janus membranes with different [...] Read more.
Novel hydrophobic/hydrophilic Janus fibrous membranes, the poly[4,4′-methylenebis (phenylisocyanate)-alt-1,4-butanediol/di(propylene glycol)/plycaprolactone] (PU) fibrous membrane as the hydrophobic layer and cellulose acetate (CA) fibrous membrane as the hydrophilic layer, were fabricated by the so-called “layer-by-layer” electrospinning technology. A series of the PU/CA Janus membranes with different electrospinning time of the CA layers by which the thickness of hydrophilic layer can be controlled were also prepared to uncover its influence on the directional water vapor transmission. The results showed that water vapor transmission capability from the hydrophobic side to the hydrophilic side of the PU/CA Janus fibrous membrane was enhanced rather than that from the reverse direction of the same membrane. The optimal water vapor transmission capacity existed when the electrospinning time of CA fibrous membrane reached 15 min. Such enhanced water vapor transmission originated because of the asymmetric wettability of the Janus membrane and the strong force to draw tiny water droplet from the hydrophobic side to the hydrophilic side. The novel understanding is useful for facile designing and fabrication of efficient moisture permeable fabrics and clothing. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue High-Performance Nanocomposite Membranes and Their Applications)
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21 pages, 7423 KiB  
Article
Enhanced Fouling Resistance and Antibacterial Properties of Novel Graphene Oxide-Arabic Gum Polyethersulfone Membranes
by Ahmad Najjar, Souhir Sabri, Rashad Al-Gaashani, Viktor Kochkodan and Muataz Ali Atieh
Appl. Sci. 2019, 9(3), 513; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app9030513 - 02 Feb 2019
Cited by 23 | Viewed by 4133
Abstract
Membrane biofouling has proved to be a major obstacle when it comes to membrane efficiency in membrane-based water treatment. Solutions to this problem remain elusive. This study presents novel polyethersulfone (PES) membranes that are fabricated using the phase inversion method at different loadings [...] Read more.
Membrane biofouling has proved to be a major obstacle when it comes to membrane efficiency in membrane-based water treatment. Solutions to this problem remain elusive. This study presents novel polyethersulfone (PES) membranes that are fabricated using the phase inversion method at different loadings of graphene oxide (GO) and 1 wt. % arabic gum (AG) as nanofiller and pore forming agents. Synthesized GO was examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) for morphological studies and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) for elemental analysis. The prepared GO flakes showed a high content of oxygen-containing groups (~31%). The fabricated membranes were extensively characterized, including water contact angle analysis for hydrophilicity, zeta potential measurements for surface charge, SEM, total porosity and pore size measurements. The prepared membranes underwent fouling tests using bovine serum albumin (BSA) solutions and biofouling tests using model Gram-positive (Bacillus subtilis) and Gram-negative (Escherichia coli) bacterial suspensions as well as real treated sewage effluent (TSE). The results showed that the novel PES/GO membranes possessed strong hydrophilicity and negative surface charge with an increase in porosity, pore size and water flux. The PES/GO membranes exhibited superior antibacterial action against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial species, implicating PES membranes which incorporate GO and AG as novel membranes that are capable of high antibiofouling properties with high flux. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue High-Performance Nanocomposite Membranes and Their Applications)
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Review

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22 pages, 3566 KiB  
Review
Biomedical Applications of Polymeric Cryogels
by Monireh Bakhshpour, Neslihan Idil, Işık Perçin and Adil Denizli
Appl. Sci. 2019, 9(3), 553; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app9030553 - 07 Feb 2019
Cited by 76 | Viewed by 6350
Abstract
The application of interconnected supermacroporous cryogels as support matrices for the purification, separation and immobilization of whole cells and different biological macromolecules has been well reported in literature. Cryogels have advantages over traditional gel carriers in the field of biochromatography and related biomedical [...] Read more.
The application of interconnected supermacroporous cryogels as support matrices for the purification, separation and immobilization of whole cells and different biological macromolecules has been well reported in literature. Cryogels have advantages over traditional gel carriers in the field of biochromatography and related biomedical applications. These matrices nearly mimic the three-dimensional structure of native tissue extracellular matrix. In addition, mechanical, osmotic and chemical stability of cryogels make them attractive polymeric materials for the construction of scaffolds in tissue engineering applications and in vitro cell culture, separation materials for many different processes such as immobilization of biomolecules, capturing of target molecules, and controlled drug delivery. The low mass transfer resistance of cryogel matrices makes them useful in chromatographic applications with the immobilization of different affinity ligands to these materials. Cryogels have been introduced as gel matrices prepared using partially frozen monomer or polymer solutions at temperature below zero. These materials can be produced with different shapes and are of interest in the therapeutic area. This review highlights the recent advances in cryogelation technologies by emphasizing their biomedical applications to supply an overview of their rising stars day to day. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue High-Performance Nanocomposite Membranes and Their Applications)
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Other

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18 pages, 2989 KiB  
Perspective
Graphene-Based Membranes for CO2/CH4 Separation: Key Challenges and Perspectives
by Kunli Goh, H. Enis Karahan, Euntae Yang and Tae-Hyun Bae
Appl. Sci. 2019, 9(14), 2784; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app9142784 - 10 Jul 2019
Cited by 28 | Viewed by 5294
Abstract
Increasing demand to strengthen energy security has increased the importance of natural gas sweetening and biogas upgrading processes. Membrane-based separation of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) is a relatively newer technology, which offers several competitive advantages, such as [...] Read more.
Increasing demand to strengthen energy security has increased the importance of natural gas sweetening and biogas upgrading processes. Membrane-based separation of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) is a relatively newer technology, which offers several competitive advantages, such as higher energy-efficiency and cost-effectiveness, over conventional technologies. Recently, the use of graphene-based materials to elevate the performance of polymeric membranes have attracted immense attention. Herein, we do not seek to provide the reader with a comprehensive review of this topic but rather highlight the key challenges and our perspectives going ahead. We approach the topic by evaluating three mainstream membrane designs using graphene-based materials: (1) nanoporous single-layer graphene, (2) few- to multi-layered graphene-based stacked laminates, and (3) mixed-matrix membranes. At present, each design faces different challenges, including low scalability, high production cost, limited performance enhancement, and the lack of robust techno-economic review and systematic membrane design optimization. To help address these challenges, we have mapped out a technology landscape of the current graphene-based membrane research based on the separation performance enhancement, commercial viability, and production cost. Accordingly, we contend that future efforts devoted to advancing graphene-based membranes must be matched by progress in these strategic areas so as to realize practical and commercially relevant graphene-based membranes for CO2/CH4 separation and beyond. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue High-Performance Nanocomposite Membranes and Their Applications)
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