Ura garbitzeko mintzen garapena: Development of membranes for water remediation

Abstract

The diminishing amount of drinking water across the world due to different pollutants is one of the most worrying problems nowadays. The development of membranes is preferential given their ability to deal with pollutants in various aquatic medias, through a selection of mechanisms (size exclusion and adsorption) appropriate materials can be chosen, usually polymers or ceramics. Thus, many processing methods have been developed according to materials and requirements. On the one hand, ceramics are resistant and chemically stable, making their processing and usage focused on extreme conditions. On the other hand, polymers being soluble and able to soften under high temperature are processed and used in moderate conditions. This work presents the general characteristics of membranes used for water remediation, that is, physical and/or chemical mechanisms used to remove contaminants, the processing techniques to form a membrane and the properties of different materials to form them.