Advanced Functional Membranes and Membrane Processes for Efficient and Sustainable Separation

Membrane-based separation technologies have emerged as key solutions for addressing global challenges in water treatment, environmental remediation, resource recovery, and energy-efficient production. Recent advances in membrane materials, including nanostructured, functionalized, and hybrid membranes, have significantly improved separation performance and selectivity. However, membrane fouling remains a major obstacle to long-term operation, driving extensive research into fouling mechanisms, mitigation strategies, and cleaning technologies. Meanwhile, innovations in membrane reactor design and process integration have expanded the applicability of membrane systems across diverse industrial sectors. This Research Topic aims to provide a platform for the latest developments in membrane materials, separation principles, fouling control, membrane reactors, and emerging membrane processes, promoting sustainable and high-performance separation technologies.Membrane technologies have become indispensable tools for water purification, wastewater treatment, gas separation, resource recovery, and sustainable industrial production. Despite remarkable progress in membrane materials and process development, several critical challenges still limit their large-scale implementation. Membrane fouling, performance degradation, limited selectivity, energy consumption, and insufficient understanding of transport and separation mechanisms remain major barriers to achieving efficient and sustainable operation.This Research Topic aims to address these challenges by promoting advances in functional membrane materials, membrane fabrication strategies, separation principles, fouling mechanisms and control technologies, as well as innovative membrane reactor and process designs. Contributions are encouraged to explore novel materials, membrane surface modification, anti-fouling approaches, process intensification, hybrid membrane systems, and emerging applications in water, energy, and environmental sectors. By integrating fundamental research with engineering innovations, this Research Topic seeks to provide new insights and practical solutions for the development of high-performance, energy-efficient, and sustainable membrane-based separation technologies.This Research Topic focuses on recent advances in membrane science and technology for efficient and sustainable separation applications. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to: • Design, fabrication, and characterization of advanced functional membrane materials• Membrane transport and separation mechanisms • Membrane fouling behavior, monitoring, mitigation, and cleaning strategies• Membrane bioreactors and membrane reactor design• Emerging membrane processes and hybrid separation systems• Membranes for water and wastewater treatment, desalination, gas separation, solvent recovery, and resource recovery• Energy-efficient membrane technologies• Scale-up, process optimization, and industrial applications of membrane systemsWe welcome Original Research Articles, Review Articles, Mini Reviews, Perspectives, and Case Studies that provide fundamental insights, technological innovations, or practical applications related to membrane materials and membrane-based separation processes. Topic editors: Jingwei Wang, Weiwei Cai Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/82370/advanced-functional-membranes-and-membrane-processes-for-efficient-and-sustainable-separation