Sen Gupta Ria, Samantaray Paresh Kumar, Bose Suryasarathi
Department of Materials Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Karnataka560012, India.
International Institute for Nanocomposites Manufacturing (IINM), WMG, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, U.K.
ACS Omega. 2023 Jul 3;8(28):24695-24717. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.3c01699. eCollection 2023 Jul 18.
Membrane technology is an efficient way to purify water, but it generates non-biodegradable biohazardous waste. This waste ends up in landfills, incinerators, or microplastics, threatening the environment. To address this, research is being conducted to develop compostable alternatives that are sustainable and ecofriendly. Bioplastics, which are expected to capture 40% of the market share by 2030, represent one such alternative. This review examines the feasibility of using synthetic biodegradable materials beyond cellulose and chitosan for water treatment, considering cost, carbon footprint, and stability in mechanical, thermal, and chemical environments. Although biodegradable membranes have the potential to close the recycling loop, challenges such as brittleness and water stability limit their use in membrane applications. The review suggests approaches to tackle these issues and highlights recent advances in the field of biodegradable membranes for water purification. The end-of-life perspective of these materials is also discussed, as their recyclability and compostability are critical factors in reducing the environmental impact of membrane technology. This review underscores the need to develop sustainable alternatives to conventional membrane materials and suggests that biodegradable membranes have great potential to address this challenge.
膜技术是一种高效的水净化方法，但它会产生不可生物降解的生物有害废物。这些废物最终进入垃圾填埋场、焚化炉或微塑料中，对环境构成威胁。为了解决这个问题，正在进行研究以开发可持续且环保的可堆肥替代品。预计到2030年，生物塑料将占据40%的市场份额，就是这样一种替代品。本综述探讨了使用除纤维素和壳聚糖之外的合成可生物降解材料进行水处理的可行性，考虑了成本、碳足迹以及在机械、热和化学环境中的稳定性。尽管可生物降解膜有潜力闭合回收循环，但诸如脆性和水稳定性等挑战限制了它们在膜应用中的使用。该综述提出了解决这些问题的方法，并强调了用于水净化的可生物降解膜领域的最新进展。还讨论了这些材料的寿命终期观点，因为它们的可回收性和可堆肥性是减少膜技术对环境影响的关键因素。本综述强调了开发传统膜材料可持续替代品的必要性，并表明可生物降解膜在应对这一挑战方面具有巨大潜力。
