Development and characterization of nanomaterial-filled hydrophilic membrane

Membrane technology can be an alternative to other separation processes due to its many advantages. These advantages are; low energy consumption, easy capacity increase, continuous separation, easy adaptation to other separations in hybrid uses, no special requirements. Existing membranes for water treatment, typically polymeric in nature, are still restricted by several challenges including the trade-off relationship between permeability and selectivity and low resistance to fouling. Nanocomposite membranes, a new class of membranes fabricated by combining polymeric materials with nanomaterials, are emerging as a promising solution to these challenges. The advanced nanocomposite membranes could be designed to meet specific water treatment applications by tuning their structure and physicochemical properties (e.g. hydrophilicity, porosity, charge density, and thermal and mechanical stability) and introducing unique functionalities (e.g. antibacterial, photocatalytic or adsorptive capabilities). Polymer-matrix nanocomposite membranes are advanced membranes with nanomaterials dispersed in their polymer matrices. Sodium alginate, a hydrophilic natural polymer has been extensively studied for a wide variety of biological applications due to its low cost, biocompatibility, biodegradability, and ease of chemical derivatization.