The Status and Perspectives of Sustainable Membrane Materials

Membrane technology is recognized to be unique in many industrial sectors. This technology contributes significantly to sustainable development promoted by the principles of Green Chemistry and Process Intensification Strategy (PI). It has become a successful alternative technology that led to significant benefits concerning the conventional separation techniques, such as ease of processability, flexibility, and small footprints making them the preferred choice in many fields of interest. In this overview, the vision for the future development of membrane operations is evidenced and it is based on the improvement of existing membrane processes for specific applications, such as hydrogen production, food sector, and distillation, by using membrane reactors, bioreactors, and membrane distillation (MD) processes, respectively. Furthermore, to enhance the sustainability throughout the lifecycle of membrane products, the exploitation of new solvents and biopolymers platforms that have great potential to replace hazardous solvents or petroleum-based materials for more sustainable membranes in different geometries is presented and discussed.