Nanofiltration of Aqueous Solutions: Recent Developments and Progresses

This chapter describes the membrane materials currently used in applications of aqueous nanofiltration. The focus will be on the following materials: polyamide, polysulfone, and ceramics. Methods for the synthesis of such membranes will be described. Although these groups of materials comprise most of the (commercially) available nanofiltration membranes, other (experimental) materials for manufacturing of nanofiltration membranes will be discussed as well. Furthermore, new developments in fine-tuning membranes or enhancing membrane performances (flux increase, fouling resistance, catalytic activities) will be described, including chemical modifications of membrane structures, and the addition of nanoparticles to polymeric and ceramic membranes.

Keywords: Nanofiltration, polymeric membranes, ceramic membranes, membrane synthesis, chemical modification, nanoparticles.