Challenges in Commercializing Biomimetic Membranes

Perry, Mark; Madsen, Steen Ulrik; Jørgensen, Tine Elkjær; Braekevelt, Sylvie; Lauritzen, Karsten; Hélix-Nielsen, Claus

doi:10.3390/membranes5040685

Cited by 30 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…This puts a limitation on the thickness of the host membrane i.e. the host membrane must not exceed a thickness of only a few nanometers so that it can be compatible with an appropriate support material [236]. Keeping these limitations in focus and from the production point of view, wide-scale application of aquaporin membrane technology requires high permeability, adequate mechanical stability, high selectivity and elevated strength in order to withstand design pressure for impactful market applications.…”

Section: Current Challenges Associated With Biomimetic Membranes and mentioning

confidence: 99%

Biomimetic membranes: A critical review of recent progress

et al. 2017

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A membrane material that can concurrently provide commercially acceptable levels of water permeability, high salt rejection, and of sufficient stability to withstand mechanical and chemical stresses seems to be necessary to guarantee the energy and environmental sustainability of desalination systems and other membrane separation processes. Recent developments in desalination have shown that bio-inspired membranes are moving steadily in this direction. Sustainable desalination via aquaporin-based bio-inspired membranes is elucidated in this paper in terms of recent commercialization exploitation and progress towards real operations. Current large-scale applications, viable opportunities, remaining challenges and sustainability of operations, in terms of comparison with established technologies, are discussed in this paper. The major drawback of aquaporin-based membranes, which has been highlighted repeatedly in recent studies, is the stability of the membranes during real operations. This review is focused on recent solutions provided by scientists towards the mitigation of these problems and commercialization of aquaporin-based membranes.

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Section: Current Challenges Associated With Biomimetic Membranes and mentioning

confidence: 99%

Biomimetic membranes: A critical review of recent progress

et al. 2017

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“…Some of the apparent advantages are that (i) by virtue of being an osmotically driven process and not a hydraulic pressure process, the propensity for fouling is lower and physically reversible (Shaffer et al, 2015;Phuntsho, 2012;Achilli et al, 2010;Mi and Elimelech, 2010;Lay et al, 2010;Tang et al, 2010;Choi et al, 2009;McGinnies and Elimelech, 2008;McGinnies and Elimilech, 2007); (ii) higher fluxes with recent developments in FO fabrication of thin film composites (TFC), carbon nanotube (CNT) and biomimetic membranes that provide lower concentration polarisation (Shaffer et al, 2015;Tang et al, 2015;Zhao et al, 2012a;Zhao et al, 2012b;Zhao et al, 2013;Wang et al, 2010;Yip et al, 2010;Gethard et al, 2011;Schnorr and Swager, 2011); and (iii) where the separation and recovery of the DS after desalination is irrelevant this technology offers a significant advantage over other desalination technologies such as RO (Phuntsho et al, 2012;Phuntsho et al, 2011). However, FO is still limited due to challenges related to water flux; reverse solute flux; lack of suitable FO membranes; fouling for high flux membranes; concentration polarisation; the identification of alternative non-conventional water sources as feed solutions (FS) and limited choices of draw solutes (Akther et al, 2015;Braekevelt et al, 2015;Shaffer et al, 2015;Chung et al, 2012). It is the latter challenge that this paper attempts to address.…”

Section: Forward Osmosis (Fo)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential of dyes as draw solutions in forward osmosis for the South African textile industry

Sheldon

Jingxi

Jager

et al. 2018

WSA

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The textile industry produces large volumes of wastewater that requires appropriate treatment before being released into the environment. Research globally has focused on advanced desalination technologies to augment the limited freshwater resources. Forward osmosis (FO) technology has gained substantial interest as a possible lower-energy desalination technology. However, challenges such as the availability of effective draw solutions (DS) have limited its implementation. This study evaluated alternative feed water resources and assessed the potential of dye solutions as DS. The aim is to dilute a concentrated dye DS to a target concentration for direct dye-batch use, thereby reclaiming water resources. The measured osmotic pressure (OP) of the alternative feed solutions (synthetic brackish water; syntethic seawater; seawater from the Atlantic and Indian Oceans; and wastewater from two textile factories) were 414, 2 761, 2 580, 2 614; 1 716 and 7 822 kPa, respectively. Three basic dyes (Maxilon Turquoise, Red and Blue) and three reactive dyes (Carmine, Olive Green and Black) were selected based on common use in the South African textile industry. The dye samples were prepared without and with lt at different concentrations and different dye-to-salt mass ratios ranging from 1:10 to 1:60. The OP trends for the basic dyes followed Blue >> Red > Turquoise and for the reactive dyes Black >> Olive > Carmine. The overall OP trend was Black > Olive > Carmine > Blue > Red > Turquoise. The OP at different dye concentrations and different dye-to-salt ratios was mostly influenced by the dye chemistry and molecular weight (Mw) rather than the type of dye, i.e., reactive vs basic.The OP trend for the dye-to-salt ratios was 1:60 > 1:50 > 1:40 > 1:30 > 1:20 > 1:10. For both the basic and reactive dyes a linear relationship exists between OP and dye concentration; as well as between OP and Mw. The dye DS exhibited larger OP compared to that of the FS evaluated, thus rendering them suitable DS.

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“…Such a foundation is necessary to develop a blue economy (Pauli ) and motivate science and industry to revitalize the paradigm of a sustainable society by promoting the expansion and development of still‐early‐stage biomimicry technology (Perry et al. ). Indeed, a biomimicry knowledge database that can be utilized and developed as biomimicry technology is required because there are still few databases to compile biological and ecological properties for biomimicry functions (Kozaki and Mizoguchi ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biological and ecological classification of biomimicry from a biology push standpoint

Bae

Lee

2019

Ecosphere

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Biomimicry refers to a cooperative process that develops a sustainable world by taking inspiration from the structure, function, process, and mechanism of an organism adapted to the environment through the evolution of nature. A classification system of biomimicry from a biological and ecological point of view (biology push) can provide a framework for the sustainable development of society, the environment, and the economy. Thus, the purpose of this study was to categorize biological and ecological functions and to present a collaborative biomimicry system that suggests engineering and industrial sectors where biomimicry functions can be applied. Based on biology push, the biological and ecological functions were divided into six groups with subgroups of specific features, related to the fields of technology and industry. Through the formulation of the new biological functional framework, the biomimicry system can be used as a simple classification tool to determine the expected value of the final product as well as provide the knowledge data required in engineering and industry.

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Challenges in Commercializing Biomimetic Membranes

Cited by 30 publications

References 19 publications

Biomimetic membranes: A critical review of recent progress

Biomimetic membranes: A critical review of recent progress

Potential of dyes as draw solutions in forward osmosis for the South African textile industry

Biological and ecological classification of biomimicry from a biology push standpoint

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