Functionalized membranes and environmental applications

Excerpt

The development of separation processes with reduced energy consumption and minimal environmental impact is critical for sustainable operation. Membrane processes provide a highly flexible separation technique for selective solute separation/concentration, and permeate recycling and reuse (Bhattacharyya et al. 2003; Ho et al. 1992; Bhattacharyya and Shah 2005). The special features for membrane processes that make them attractive for industrial applications are their compactness, ease of fabrication, operation, and modular design (Meyer et al. 2006). Although membrane processes such as, Reverse Osmosis, Nanofiltration, Ultrafiltration, and Microfiltration have provided many successful applications ranging from high-quality water production to material recovery, but incorporation of biological aspects in membranes should add immense value in the area of separations and material capture. …