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To meet surging water demands, water reuse is being sought as an alternative to traditional water resources. Direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) has been increasingly studied in the past decade for its potential as an emerging cost effective wastewater treatment process and subsequent water reuse. This review presents a comprehensive overview of the current progress in the application of DCMD for textile wastewater treatment based on the available state of the art. There are already published review papers about the membrane distillation process, but the difference in the present work is that it focuses on the textile area, which consumes a lot of water and generates large amounts of wastewater, and still needs innovations in the sector. A review focused on the textile sector draws the attention of professionals to the problem and, consequently, to a solution. Current issues such as the influences of feed solution, membrane characteristics and membrane fouling and new insights are discussed. The main performance operating conditions and their effects on the separation process are given. Likewise, challenges associated with the influence of different dyes on the DCMD results are explained. This review also highlights the future research directions for DCMD to achieve successful implementation in the textile industry.

Membrane distillation (MD) has been increasingly studied in the past decade for its potential as a separation process of nonvolatile components. The present study demonstrates a comprehensive overview of the current progress and challenges in the application of ceramic membranes to MD based on the available state of the art.There are already published review papers about MD, but the present study focuses on ceramic membranes, which are still the few used in MD when compared to polymeric membranes. Significant issues such as membrane material, module, characteristics, and hydrophobic modification are discussed. The main operating conditions and their effects on the separation process are given. Current applications of ceramic membranes in MD are also presented. Likewise, challenges and future perspectives associated with MD performance using ceramic membranes are highlighted.A review focused on ceramic membranes applied specifically to MD will contribute for future research in order that this process achieves successful implementation in industry. K E Y W O R D Sapplications, grafting, permeability, properties, surface modification 2162 | RAMLOW et AL.

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Recently, latex (NRL) and natural rubber (NR) from Hevea brasiliensis have emerged as promising biomaterials from renewable sources for biomedical applications. Although some attempts at commercial applications have been made, there is a need to comprehensively document the state-of-the-art of these biopolymers for biomedical applications and regenerative medicine. Here we present the recent advances in the development of NRL and NR as biomedical materials with potential properties including biocompatibility and biodegradability. Due to the angiogenic properties of NRL and NR, well-defined functional materials can be used for drug delivery systems (oral/transdermal), scaffolds for skin and bone regeneration, and dressings for wound healing. The incorporation of drugs, nanoparticles, cells, and others into NRL and NR polymer chains offers a wide range of applications such as dressings with antimicrobial activity and sustained release systems. Concluding remarks on the growth of these biomaterials for biomedical applications and regenerative medicine were discussed.