Structure of Polymeric Nanocomposite Membranes Used in Water Treatment

In recent years, membrane production technology has been recognized as an efficient technique for water treatment.  Membrane technology contributes up to 53% of the total world processes for production of drinking water. Ease of operation, cost reduction, lack of chemicals and high removal capacity are some of the advantages of using membranes in water treatment.Membrane based separations are commonly based on polymeric membranes because of their higher flexibility, easily pore forming mechanism, lower cost and smaller installation space as compared to inorganic membranes. Polymers such as polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), polyether sulfone (PES), polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) are used in the production of polymer membranes. Polymer membranes also have disadvantages that can be improved by surface modification with nanomaterials. The main limitation of separating polymer membranes is fouling due to their hydrophobicity. Modification of polymer membranes with metal and carbon nanomaterials leads to the production of nanocomposite membranes with antifouling capability. Nanomaterials impart high selectivity, permeability, hydrophobicity, thermal stability, mechanical strength and antibacterial properties to polymer membranes by blending, coating and other modification methods the surface or mixed with a polymer membrane. In this paper, report the structure and modification of polymer membranes with metals such as silver, copper and titanium dioxide and compounds such as graphene oxide is reviewed.