Membrane separation has been widely recognized as an energy-efficient technology with a rapidly growing market. However, such growth raises concerns about sustainability due to current fabrication methods that employ toxic solvents and non-degradable petroleum-based polymers. The focus of tackling these challenges has been on the active layer of membranes via renewable materials, while the equally important membrane supports are yet to turn green. Herein we report the fabrication of sustainable, biodegradable, non-woven composite membrane supports made from three renewable materials: bamboo fiber, poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and dimethyl carbonate. The bio-based membrane supports exhibited a porous structure (porosity of 0.719 ± 0.132) with tensile strength (32.7-73.3 MPa) comparable to conventional materials, such as polypropylene. The microstructure and porosity of the supports were revealed by laser scanning confocal microscopy. The increase in bamboo content resulted in increased mechanical stability, decreased swelling and enhanced permeance, up to 1068±32 L m-2 h-1 bar-1 in water. The long-term chemical stability of membrane supports was verified in 19 of the 25 organic solvents screened. In particular, they were found to be stable in some conventional and emerging green polar aprotic solvents including Cyrene, 2-methyltetrahydrofuran, γ-valerolactone and propylene carbonate. Stable cross-flow filtration performance over 2 weeks was successfully demonstrated. The results demonstrated that the bamboo/PLA membrane supports could provide a sustainable alternative for conventional membrane backing materials by eliminating the need for petroleum-based non-degradable polymers and toxic solvents.

This study reports a systematic investigation of fine-tuning the filtration performance of nanofiltration membranes with biophenol coatings to produce solvent-resistant membranes with 390–1550 g mol–1 molecular weight cutoff (MWCO) and 0.5–40 L m–2 h–1 bar–1 permeance. Six kinds of inexpensive, commercial biophenols (dopamine, tannic acid, vanillyl alcohol, eugenol, morin, and quercetin) were subjected to identical oxidant-promoted polymerization to coat six kinds of loose asymmetric membrane supports: polyimide (PI), polyacrylonitrile (PAN), polysulfone (PSf), polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF), polybenzimidazole (PBI), and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). The coatings were characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and the morphologies were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The long-term stability of 42 membranes were tested in 12 organic solvents, including emerging green solvents MeTHF and Cyrene. The biophenol coatings led to tighter membranes with a decrease in MWCO of 12–79% at a penalty of a 22–92% permeance decrease in acetone.

The way forward to improve and standardize membrane reports, and to bridge the gap between academic efforts and industrial requirements.

A one-pot, membrane-assisted synthesis of 2,4,5-trisubstituted-2-imidazolines was developed, and substituent effects, reaction kinetics and mechanism by DFT were studied.

With the number of publications being all-time high, academic peer review is imperative to ensure high-quality research content. e wider involvement of postgraduate, early-career researchers (ECRs) has been proposed on several platforms to address the unsustainability of the peer review process caused by a lack of peer reviewers. A survey involving 1203 academics and ECRs in ten countries revealed their attitudes towards the involvement of ECRs in the peer review process. e trends and motives were identified, with emphasis on the peer review being an oft-neglected tool in the skill development of ECRs. In light of the survey results, the transferrable skills that ECRs acquire from performing peer reviews at a crucial stage in their career development are systematically explored. e findings call for further engagement of ECRs in the peer review process under supervisory mentoring.