The increasing demand for global energy consumption expedites major opportunities for the innovation of green energy technologies. Addressing the issue of sustainable energy is highly crucial for societies in order to maintain secure and balanced future progress in the economy and ecologically. Recently, there has been a growing interest in the development of improved and efficient sustainable energy technologies that are capable of reducing the global environmental footprint. The growing knowledge of hybrid techniques contributes to a decrease in the use of environmental resources while generating energy. However, various factors including the availability of natural resources, and different economic policies restrict the development of sustainable energies. Water and energy are the two major aspects for progressing towards a sustainable future. Recently, membrane-based technologies have begun to play an essential role in the advancement of sustainable energy and water demands. In this review article, the opportunities for membrane technologies dealing with water and energy sustainability have been analyzed.

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The tribological properties are one of the most significant properties in many automobile components such as clutch plate, break shoe, engine liner, piston pin, etc. At present work, attempt on nano clay is loaded with natural fibers (sisal and jute), artificial fiber (E‐glass), and epoxy resin. In this investigation, the specific wear rate and coefficient of friction are analyzed by pin on disc apparatus under dry sliding conditions. The experiment design carried by Box–Behnken design on design of experiment techniques with influence wear parameters, namely, filler content, applied load, sliding distance, and sliding velocity; its responses are analyzed by response surface methodology. The regression mathematical models performed for all the responses, and the most influential factors determined by analysis of variance technique, S/N ratio. The results indicate that the coefficient of friction and specific wear rates are minimized with the addition of filler content to the developed composites and further increasing, the response of composites may be varied. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

This paper reports the development of novel hydrophilized membrane for water desalination using direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD). The permeate side of a porous polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membrane on polypropylene (PP) support was hydrophilized by chemical treatment with oxidizing agents to enhance the rapid condensation and removal of permeated vapors. Depending upon the process conditions, permeate flux was as high as 61 L/m 2 .hr, and as much 73% higher than an unmodified membrane. 58% increase in overall mass transfer coefficient was also observed with the hydrophilized membrane. In short, hydrophilization of membrane surface showed enhanced flux at lower temperature, making this a more energy efficient process.

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This paper reports the development of novel carbon nanotube immobilized composite membranes (CNIMs) for the extraction of volatile organics from air. The nanotubes were immobilized onto the selective layer of a composite membrane where they served as sorption sites and provided additional pathways for enhanced solute transport. Depending upon the process conditions, the presence of carbon nanotubes led to the organic removal with flux as high as 37.7 × 10 −5 , 72.9 × 10 −5 , and 8.22 × 10 −5 gm mol/m 2 min and an increase in mass-transfer coefficient of about 92.2%, 22.7%, and 44.3% for toluene, dichloromethane, and ethanol, respectively. The CNIMs demonstrated several advantages, including enhanced recovery at low concentrations and low temperature.