Membrane separation technology has been widely recognized as a more advantageous technology owing to its high treatment efficiency, low footprint, reliable effluent quality. However, its further sustainable growth has been hampered due to membrane fouling. Although great efforts have been made in the recent decades to improve the antifouling performance via various modification strategies, but the obtained membranes commonly possess more complicated surface chemistry, which is unfavorable for membrane fouling control.
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Graphical abstract. Credit: Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering (2022). DOI: 10.1007/s11783-023-1630-3 The polarity of molecules essentially determines their molecular interaction behavior. Nonpolar membranes may exhibit advantages in antifouling because the electric dipole moment is close to zero, which is not conducive to the deposition of pollutants on the membrane surface. However, such a fundamental interaction mechanism is rarely considered in the previous membrane fabrication and modification studies. Also, nonpolar materials have not been sufficiently concerned in previous membrane preparation studies. Although carbon nanotube had been increasingly employed for membrane fabrication, the potential beneficial effects of its nonpolar feature had been barely investigated. A few studies developed vertically aligned CNT membranes, but they are not suitable for…