Advances in electrochemical membranes for water treatment: A comprehensive review

In recent years, electro-membranes have garnered attention for their potential to address the limitations of conventional membranes, such as low permeability, poor selectivity, and fouling. Notably, electrospun electrochemical membranes have emerged as promising solutions, offering increased surface area and uniform porosity, leading to enhanced permeability and pollutant rejection in water treatment applications. This comprehensive review systematically analyzes the preparation methods of frequently employed electrochemical membranes, focusing on their characterizations, processes, and essential parameters. Surface modification techniques, nanomaterial integration, and material selection are pivotal aspects explored in this review. Various fabrication methods, including dip coating, sintering, sol-gel, and integrated approaches, are examined in detail, emphasizing their roles in enhancing membrane functionality. The integration of nanomaterials into mixed matrix electrochemical membranes presents opportunities to develop highly efficient composite membranes. Furthermore, this review analyzes into the fabrication processes of both polymeric and ceramic electrochemical membranes, highlighting the need for scaling up production processes and testing these membranes in real-world scenarios to validate their performance. Advancements in electro-membrane technology have facilitated the development of composite membranes that are not only affordable and scalable but also possess tunable physicochemical properties, promising significant advancements in water treatment methodologies.