Polymeric Membranes for Water Treatment

Abstract

AbstractToday's world is suffering from major problems, one with the supply of clean water or scarcity of freshwater. 90% of the world's water is salty remaining 10% is also contaminated due to industrial emissions, modern farming practices, use of fertilizers, pesticides, and insecticides. In order to solve the problem of water contamination, the use of polymeric membranes become more fascinating to researchers and environmental engineers. These polymeric membranes provide porous support during the process of water filtration to remove the decontaminants. They mainly remove both soluble and non-soluble impurities by the process of reverse osmosis (RO), ultra-filtration (UF), nanofiltration (NF), etc. The polymeric membranes have their shelf life and these need to be revived during the field scale operations. Membrane fouling and clogging due to the insoluble and hydrophobic impurities is one of the major problems in their application. The continuous movement of water leads to the accumulation of the material and it reduces water flux. So, there is a requirement for continuous cleaning, and antifouling of the membrane to ensure the continuous filtration and decontamination of water. These membranes are cheaper and economic and durable to use for a longer time. In this book chapter, the role of polymeric membranes, their types, filtration mechanism, fouling, and clogging behavior has been discussed.KeywordsWater purificationPolymeric membraneFoulingContaminantsIndustrial effluentsInsecticidesNanofiltration