Recent developments in porous ceramic membranes for wastewater treatment and desalination: A review

Thanigaivelan Arumugham, Noel Jacob Kaleekkal, Sruthi Gopal, Jenny Nambikkattu, Rambabu K, Ahmed Mamdouh Aboulella, S. Ranil Wickramasinghe, Fawzi Banat

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

100 Scopus citations

Abstract

The development of membrane technology has proved vital in providing a sustainable and affordable supply of clean water to address the ever-increasing demand. Though liquid separation applications have been still dominated by polymeric membranes, porous ceramic membranes have gained a commercial foothold in microfiltration (MF) and ultrafiltration (UF) applications due to their hydrophilic nature, lower fouling, ease of cleaning, reliable performance, robust performance with harsh feeds, relative insensitivity to temperature and pH, and stable long-term flux. The enrichment of research and development on porous ceramic membranes extends its focus into advanced membrane separation technologies. The latest emerging nanofiltration (NF) and membrane distillation (MD) applications have witnessed special interests in constructing porous membrane with hydrophilic/functional/hydrophobic properties. However, NF and MD are relatively new, and many shortcomings must be addressed to compete with their polymeric counterparts. For the last three years (2018–2020), state-of-the-art literature on porous ceramic membranes has been collected and critically reviewed. This review highlights the efficiency (permeability, selectivity, and antifouling) of hydrophilic porous ceramic membranes in a wide variety of wastewater treatment applications and hydrophobic porous ceramic membranes in membrane distillation-based desalination applications. A significant focus on pores characteristics, pore sieving phenomenon, nano functionalization, and synergic effect on fouling, the hydrophilic porous ceramic membrane has been discussed. In another part of this review, the role of surface hydrophobicity, water contact angle, liquid entry pressure (LEP), thermal properties, surface micro-roughness, etc., has been discussed for different types of hydrophobic porous ceramic membranes -(a) metal-based, (b) silica-based, (c) other ceramics. Also, this review highlights the potential benefits, drawbacks, and limitations of the porous membrane in applications. Moreover, the prospects are emphasized to overcome the challenges in the field.

Original languageBritish English
Article number112925
JournalJournal of Environmental Management
Volume293
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Sep 2021

Keywords

  • Filtration characteristics
  • Hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity
  • Membrane distillation
  • Porous ceramic membrane
  • Wastewater treatment

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