Abstract

Biopolymers are currently the most convenient alternative for replacing chemically synthetized polymers in membrane preparation. To date, several biopolymers have been proposed for such purpose, including the ones derived from animal (e.g., polybutylene succinate, polylactic acid, polyhydroxyalcanoates), vegetable sources (e.g., starch, cellulose-based polymers, alginate, polyisoprene), bacterial fermentation products (e.g., collagen, chitin, chitosan) and specific production processes (e.g., sericin). Particularly, these biopolymer-based membranes have been implemented into pervaporation (PV) technology, which assists in the selective separation of azeotropic water-organic, organic-water, organic-organic mixtures, and specific separations of chemical reactions. Thereby, the aim of the present review is to present the current state-of-the-art regarding the different concepts on preparing membranes for PV. Particular attention is paid to the most relevant insights in the field, highlighting the followed strategies by authors for such successful approaches. Finally, by reviewing the ongoing development works, the concluding remarks and future trends are addressed.

Highlights

  • Biopolymers are commonly obtained from different sources, including animal, vegetable sources, bacterial fermentation products, and specific production process

  • In the light of pervaporation membrane reactors (PVMR), a dual-function catalytic composite membrane reactor composed by a sulfonated polyvinyl alcohol (SPVA) casting solution onto a Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)- Sodium alginate (SA) membrane has been developed by Bo et al [79]

  • Over the course of this review, biopolymers were presented as examples for continuous matrixes in membrane preparation for the purpose of azeotropic separations by means of pervaporation approaches. The success of these materials deals with their high affinity towards polar compounds, good film-forming features, and the presence of plenty functional groups that provide the possibility of chemical modification and blending with other materials

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Summary

Introduction

Biopolymers are commonly obtained from different sources, including animal (e.g., polybutylene succinate, polylactic acid, polyhydroxyalcanoates), vegetable sources (e.g., starch, cellulose-based polymers, alginate, polyisoprene), bacterial fermentation products (e.g., collagen, chitin, chitosan), and specific production process (e.g., sericin which is a by-product of the silk processing process) These biomaterials are currently recognized as potential materials for replacing chemically synthetized polymers according to the current green environment-based initiatives and regulations [1]. Pervaporation (PV) is recognized as one of the most selective membrane-based technologies, which has been successfully applied for the separation of several types of close-boiling azeotropic mixtures, including organic-organic, water-organic, and organic-water mixtures [3,4,5] In this membrane technique, synthetic polymers (e.g., polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), polydimethylsiloxane, polyimides, poly(1-(trimethylsilyl)-1-propyne), poly(octylmethylsiloxane)) have been the most used materials in the preparation of membranes [6,7,8,9]. The main drawbacks of such biopolymers are addressed, giving potential suggestions for new researchers in the field

Biopolymers
Chitosan-Based Membranes
Sodium Alginate-Based Membranes
Other Biopolymer Membranes
Findings
Concluding Remarks

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