Chapter 1 General overview, trends and prospects

Abstract

This chapter discusses the trends and prospects of the research and development of inorganic membranes. The chapter aims to (1) identify main barriers to the technological development of membranes and their commercialization in potentially important areas and (2) summarize some trends, developments, and R&D areas. The weak points of inorganic membranes should be minimized. Ceramic membrane production is intrinsically more expensive and complicated than polymer production. Inorganic membrane applications should therefore preferably be found in fields where polymer membranes cannot or do not perform well. The commercial availability of inorganic membranes is limited to a few applications in the micro- and ultrafiltration and bio-separation fields. The commercial development of new inorganic (ceramic) membranes is slow and production costs are high, showing no tendency to decrease. The commercial availability of high quality support (systems) is a critical issue in the further development of membrane separation units. To meet compatibility requirements with other components during assemblage, supports must fulfill strict requirements of (1) dimensional uniformity (i.e., roundness, flatness), and (2) thermal expansion coefficient and chemical inertness in high temperature application.