Advanced stimuli-responsive membranes for smart separation

Abstract

This review summarises the advancements of stimuli-responsive membranes, focusing on stimuli-responsive chemistry, controllable membrane properties, membrane preparation, and advanced applications.

Recent advances in membrane technologies applied in oil–water separation

“…Stimulus responsiveness plays a crucial role in developing oil-water separation membranes toward more advanced areas. Compared to traditional oil-water separation membranes, which feature fixed pore structure and surface properties, stimuli-responsive oil-water separation membranes can detect, analyze and adapt to various environmental stimuli, resulting in changes in physiochemistry, morphology, structure, and molecular conformation of membranes, which in turn alter the wetting properties of the membrane surface and the liquid transport channels [119][120][121][122][123]. As a result, these membranes can selectively exhibit either hydrophobicity or hydrophilicity, thereby achieving controlled oil-water separation.…”

A review of stimuli-responsive polymer-based gating membranes

“…1 Stimuli-responsive membranes have also gained significant interest in the field of gas and other separation processes like distillation, adsorption, extraction, and crystallization due to their ability to control selectively gas transport and segregation properties. 2 One of the most covered targets is the separation of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) from gas mixtures, especially in the context of mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and addressing climate change. Also, CO 2 may be used as a stimulus.…”

Fabrication of Oligoaniline-Based Electrically Responsive Polyamide Membranes for High-Performance Molecular Nanofiltration

“…Currently, achieving improved rejection or permeance without sacrificing permeance or rejection remains a challenge for NF membranes . Therefore, integrating smart responsiveness into NF membranes can enable reversible regulation of their pore structure and/or surface characteristics, leading to high-efficiency separation high-efficiency separation. − …”

“…Stimulus-responsive membranes, which combine the advantages of conventional membranes with intelligent features, can undergo reversible transformation in response to external stimuli such as temperature, pH, ultraviolet radiation, and electric field. − These properties make smart membranes more adaptable in the separation process compared with conventional membranes. As a result, smart membranes have a wide range of applications in antifouling, precision separation, and self-cleaning .…”