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.
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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