Electrodialysis with ultrafiltration membranes for peptide separation

A number of bioactive peptides find their potential applications in food or pharmaceutical industry; however, there arise some limitations of their large-scale production to satisfy market demands. Although pressure-driven membrane processes are able of continuous production and separation of peptides, these technologies often demonstrate insufficient selectivity. Electrophoresis is a well-known purification process characterized by high resolution of separated species but it is limited by relatively low production capacity. On the other hand, electromembrane processes offer high production capacity but their limitation is the size of separated molecules. Electrodialysis with inserted ultrafiltration membranes is an alternative method of peptide separation into fractions, their concentration and possibly demineralization at the same time to achieve large production quantities. It is a hybrid process combining conventional electrodialysis and electrophoresis principles using ultrafiltration membranes. These membranes serve as a molecular barrier separating two types of solution while the driving force remains electric potential difference. This article offers state-of-the-art summary in the field of bioactive peptide separation and fractionation by electrodialysis with ultrafiltration membranes.     

Inorganic membranes for hydrogen production and purification: a critical review and perspective

Hydrogen as a high-quality and clean energy carrier has attracted renewed and ever-increasing attention around the world in recent years, mainly due to developments in fuel cells and environmental pressures including climate change issues. In thermochemical processes for hydrogen production from fossil fuels, separation and purification is a critical technology. Where water-gas shift reaction is involved for converting the carbon monoxide to hydrogen, membrane reactors show great promises for shifting the equilibrium. Membranes are also important to the subsequent purification of hydrogen. For hydrogen production and purification, there are generally two classes of membranes both being inorganic: dense phase metal and metal alloys, and porous ceramic membranes. Porous ceramic membranes are normally prepared by sol-gel or hydrothermal methods, and have high stability and durability in high temperature, harsh impurity and hydrothermal environments. In particular, microporous membranes show promises in water gas shift reaction at higher temperatures. In this article, we review the recent advances in both dense phase metal and porous ceramic membranes, and compare their separation properties and performance in membrane reactor systems. The preparation, characterization and permeation of the various membranes will be presented and discussed. We also aim to examine the critical issues in these membranes with respect to the technical and economical advantages and disadvantages. Discussions will also be made on the relevance and importance of membrane technology to the new generation of zero-emission power technologies.     

Surface-Modified Nanocomposite Membranes

Access to enough clean and safe water requires improvement over the current state of filtration technology. Membrane technology is one of the best tools for removing dissolved matters and/or particulates during the cleaning process, but some unavoidable intrinsic properties, like flux decline and fouling, reduce the membrane life, stability and separation capacity. To improve membrane performances, researchers reported the significant role played by associating nanoparticles to membrane polymers. Nanoparticles create a path in the membrane for selective water permeation and pose a barrier for undesired matters. There are two different methods for incorporating nanoparticles in membranes: (i) adding nanoparticles to the polymeric matrix and (ii) depositing nanoparticles on the membrane surface. The deposition/coating of nanoparticles on the membrane surface allows opportunities for water/wastewater treatment. In this review, focus has been given to the development of different nanoparticle-deposited membranes and their possible applications to large-scale water purification processes, where antifouling, permeate quality and self-cleaning properties are required.     

膜蒸馏-结晶耦合技术及其在卤水分离纯化的应用前景

膜蒸馏-结晶耦合技术作为一种新型的分离技术有着分离效率高、环保节能和占用空间小等特点,因此有着广阔的应用 领域。综述了膜蒸馏-结晶耦合技术,及其分离原理、特点以及优势,概述了膜蒸馏-结晶在国内外的发展和应用状况,重点介绍膜蒸馏-结晶耦合技术在无机盐溶液方面的研究及应用。并对膜蒸馏-结晶耦合技术在卤水分离方面的应用前景做了展望。     

Recent developments on ion-exchange membranes and electro-membrane processes

Rapid growth of chemical and biotechnology in diversified areas fuels the demand for the need of reliable green technologies for the down stream processes, which include separation, purification and isolation of the molecules. Ion-exchange membrane technologies are non-hazardous in nature and being widely used not only for separation and purification but their application also extended towards energy conversion devices, storage batteries and sensors etc. Now there is a quite demand for the ion-exchange membrane with better selectivities, less electrical resistance, high chemical, mechanical and thermal stability as well as good durability. A lot of work has been done for the development of these types of ion-exchange membranes during the past twenty-five years. Herein we have reviewed the preparation of various types of ion-exchange membranes, their characterization and applications for different electro-membrane processes. Primary attention has been given to the chemical route used for the membrane preparation. Several general reactions used for the preparation of ion-exchange membranes were described. Methodologies used for the characterization of these membranes and their applications were also reviewed for the benefit of readers, so that they can get all information about the ion-exchange membranes at one platform. Although there are large number of reports available regarding preparations and applications of ion-exchange membranes more emphasis were predicted for the usefulness of these membranes or processes for solving certain type of industrial or social problems. More efforts are needed to bring many products or processes to pilot scale and extent their applications.     

Two‐Dimensional Membranes: New Paradigms for High‐Performance Separation Membranes

Two‐dimensional (2D) materials with atomic thicknesses have aroused great interest as promising building blocks for the preparation of ultrathin 2D membranes. These 2D membranes can exhibit unprecedentedly high separation permeance owing to their ultrasmall membrane thicknesses and superior selectivity because of their size‐selective nanopores and/or nanochannels. Until now, a large number of 2D membranes with good performance have been reported, highlighting the potential of these novel membranes for efficient liquid and gas separations. Summarized in this review are the latest advances in 2D membranes, with a special focus on industrially attractive separation processes, fabrication methods of laminar membranes, choices of membrane materials, designs of membrane structures, and unique membrane transport properties. Opportunities and challenges of 2D membranes for commercial applications are also briefly discussed.     

膜分离天然气脱水蒸汽技术的研究现状

天然气脱水蒸汽是天然气净化过程中的必要环节,选择合适的脱水蒸汽技术和工艺至关重要。本文首先简要概述了新兴的膜分离天然气脱水蒸汽方法的特点,然后介绍了膜分离性能的表征参数及测试、膜组件设计及操作条件的选择,重点介绍了近年来膜分离甲烷脱水蒸汽技术中的聚合物膜材料、沸石分子筛膜材料,最后展望了金属有机骨架材料的应用潜力以及天然气脱水蒸汽技术未来的发展趋势。     

Membrane Distillation and Related Operations—A Review

Abstract

Membrane contactors represent an emerging technology in which the membrane is used as a tool for inter phase mass transfer operations: the membrane does not act as a selective barrier, but the separation is based on the phase equilibrium. In principle, all traditional stripping, scrubbing, absorption, evaporation, distillation, crystallization, emulsification, liquid‐liquid extraction, and mass transfer catalysis processes can be carried out according to this configuration. This review, specifically addressed to membrane distillation (MD), osmotic distillation (OD), and membrane crystallization (MCr), illustrates the fundamental concepts related to heat and mass transport phenomena through microporous membranes, appropriate membrane properties, and module design criteria. The most significant applications of these novel membrane operations, concerning pure/fresh water production, wastewater treatment, concentration of agro food solutions, and concentration/crystallization of organic and biological solutions, are also presented and discussed.     

分散支撑液膜体系中Pb2+离子的传输

在现有支撑液膜分离技术的理论研究基础上,探索合适的液膜分离体系,研究了Pb(Ⅱ)在PC-88A-煤油-HCl分散支撑液膜体系中的传输行为;考察了料液pH值、膜溶液与解析剂体积比、解析相中HCl浓度以及Pb(Ⅱ)的起始浓度对Pb(Ⅱ)传输的影响。 结果表明,以HCl为解析剂,料液相pH=5.25、膜溶液与解析剂体积比为160∶40、解析相中HCl浓度为5.00 mol/L时,该分散支撑液膜体系对金属Pb(Ⅱ)具有良好的传输作用。 在选取的最佳传输条件下,料液相中Pb(Ⅱ)的初始浓度为3.00×10-4 mol/L时,传输190 min,传输率可达88.9％,而传统支撑液膜只有72.3％。 分散支撑液膜不仅具有较高的传输效率,而且膜体系稳定,膜的使用寿命长。     

过程分析技术在结晶过程中的应用研究进展

结晶是一种传统的分离与纯化技术,目前在高纯度化合物的分离纯化过程中发挥着至关重要的作用,广泛应用于化工、制药等领域。基于质量源于设计理念的过程分析技术为结晶过程的监测、反馈及其控制提供了高效且可靠的支持。该文对衰减全反射傅里叶变换红外光谱技术、拉曼光谱技术、近红外光谱技术、聚光束反射测量技术等多种过程分析技术在结晶过程中的应用进行综述,系统总结上述技术的现状、优缺点,并对未来发展趋势进行展望,以期为结晶工艺的在线监控提供有效参考。     

Radial Basis Function Neural Networks-Based Modeling of the Membrane Separation Process： Hydrogen Recovery from Refinery Gases

Membrane technology has found wide applications in the petrochemical industry, mainly in the purification and recovery of the hydrogen resources. Accurate prediction of the membrane separation performance plays an important role in carrying out advanced process control (APC). For the first time, a soft-sensor model for the membrane separation process has been established based on the radial basis function (RBF) neural networks. The main performance parameters, i.e, permeate hydrogen concentration, permeate gas flux, and residue hydrogen concentration, are estimated quantitatively by measuring the operating temperature, feed-side pressure, permeate-side pressure, residue-side pressure, feed-gas flux, and feed-hydrogen concentration excluding flow structure, membrane parameters, and other compositions. The predicted results can gain the desired effects. The effectiveness of this novel approach lays a foundation for integrating control technology and optimizing the operation of the gas membrane separation process.     

Photocatalytic and antifouling properties of TiO2-based photocatalytic membranes

Photocatalysis has been extensively studied due to its potential ability to avoid the excessive use of chemical reagents and reduce the energy consumption by employing solar energy. Moreover, to alleviate the reduction in the membrane permeation selectivity, separation efficiency, and membrane service life caused by the emerging micro-pollutants and membrane fouling, membrane technology is often coupled with microbial, electrochemical, and catalytic processes. However, although physical/chemical cleaning and membrane module replacement can overcome the inherent limitations caused by membrane fouling and other membrane separation processes, high operating costs limit their practical applications. In this review, common preparation methods for TiO₂ photocatalytic membranes are described in detail, and the main approaches to enhancing their photocatalytic performance are discussed. More importantly, the mechanism of the TiO₂ photocatalytic membrane antifouling process is elucidated, and some applications of photocatalytic membranes in other areas are described. This review systematically outlines future research directions in the field of photocatalytic membrane modification, including metal and non-metal doping, fabrication of heterojunction structures, control over reaction conditions, increase in hydrophilicity, and increase in membrane porosity.     

Convective interaction media short monolithic columns: enabling chromatographic supports for the separation and purification of large biomolecules

New therapeutics that are being developed rely more and more on large and complex biomacromolecules like proteins, DNA, and viral particles. Manufacturing processes are being redesigned and optimized both upstream and downstream to cope with the ever-increasing demand for the above target molecules. In downstream processing, LC still represents the most powerful technique for achieving high yield and high purities of these molecules. In most cases, however, the separation technology relies on conventional particle-based technology, which has been optimized for the purification of smaller molecules. New technologies are, therefore, needed in order to push the downstream processing ahead and into the direction that will provide robust, productive, and easy to implement methods for the production of novel therapeutics. New technologies include the renaissance of membranes, various improvements of existing technologies, but also the introduction of a novel concept--the continuous bed or monolithic stationary phases. Among different introduced products, Convective Interaction Media short monolithic columns (SMC) that are based on methacrylate monoliths exhibit some interesting features that make them attractive for these tasks. SMC can be initially used for fast method development on the laboratory scale and subsequently efficiently transferred to preparative and even more importantly to industrial scale. A brief historical overview of methacrylate monoliths is presented, followed by a short presentation of theoretical considerations that had led to the development of SMC. The design of these columns, as well as their scale-up to large units, together with the methods for transferring gradient separations from one scale to another are addressed. Noninvasive methods that have been developed for the physical characterization of various batches of SMC, which fulfill the regulatory requirements for cGMP production, are discussed. The applications of SMC for the separation and purification of large biomolecules, which demonstrate the full potential of this novel technology for an efficient downstream processing of biomolecules, are also presented.     

Recovery of Vanillin and Syringaldehyde from Lignin Oxidation: A Review of Separation and Purification Processes

Lignin is an underexploited side-stream of pulp and paper industry and biorefineries, being used for energy production at mill site or as low value material for dispersants or binding applications. However, an integrated process of reaction and separation can be implemented for the production of high added-value monomeric phenolic chemicals such as vanillin and syringaldehyde. In this review, the main research advances in the recovery of vanillin and syringaldehyde resulting from oxidation of lignin are addressed, covering various separation methodologies namely liquid-liquid extraction, supercritical fluid extraction, distillation, crystallization, membrane separation, and adsorption. Studies in this area started in the early years of the 20^th century, but in the last decades several processes have been suggested, mainly for vanillin separation. Finding the ultimate industrially feasible process is still a necessary task and this review points out the most promising technologies and sequence of processes.     

亲和色谱纯化蛋白质新进展

通过对３５篇文献的综述,介绍了亲和色谱技术的新进展     

Recycling of homogeneous hydrogenation catalysts by dialysis coupled catalysis

Although transition-metal complexes are very attractive as homogeneous catalysts in fine chemistry, their high prices often limit their applications. A means to recycle those catalysts would solve this problem and would simultaneously facilitate the downstream purification of the product. This is now realized in a new concept in which homogeneous catalysis is coupled to dialysis. The advantages of homogeneous catalysis (off-the-shelf catalysts, high activities and selectivities) are thus combined with those of heterogeneous catalysis (easy catalyst separation from product solution, reuse of catalyst, and possibility for continuous operation). Since the heart of the process is the membrane, self-prepared membranes were preferred as they allow a better control and understanding of the separation characteristics. Rhodamine B was used as a probe molecule to define the working conditions of the membrane. The concept is proven to work for two relevant chiral reactions: a hydrogenation with Ru-BINAP and a hydrogen transfer reaction with Ru-TsDPEN [BINAP=(1,1'-binaphthalene)-2,2'-diylbis(diphenylphosphine); TsDPEN= tosyl-N,N'-diphenyl-1,2-ethanediamine].     

The Perspective and Challenge of Nanomaterials in Oil and Gas Wastewater Treatment

Oil and gas wastewater refers to the waste stream produced in special production activities such as drilling and fracturing. This kind of wastewater has the following characteristics: high salinity, high chromaticity, toxic and harmful substances, poor biodegradability, and a difficulty to treat. Interestingly, nanomaterials show great potential in water treatment technology because of their small size, large surface area, and high surface energy. When nanotechnology is combined with membrane treatment materials, nanofiber membranes with a controllable pore size and high porosity can be prepared, which provides more possibilities for oil–water separation. In this review, the important applications of nanomaterials in wastewater treatment, including membrane separation technology and photocatalysis technology, are summarized. Membrane separation technology is mainly manifested in ultrafiltration (UF), nanofiltration (NF), and reverse osmosis (RO). It also focuses on the application of semiconductor photocatalysis technology induced by TiO₂ in the degradation of oil and gas wastewater. Finally, the development trends of nanomaterials in oil and gas wastewater treatment are prospected.     

Polymeric Membrane Nanofiltration and Its Application to Separations in the Chemical Industries

The application of membrane technology, particularly water-based nanofiltration, as a separation process in the chemical industries has increased tremendously in recent years. However, the use of membranes capable of molecular separation in non-aqueous systems (e.g. nanofiltration) is a relatively new and growing application of membrane technology. The main challenge in applying polymeric nanofiltration membranes to non-aqueous systems is that the polymers developed for water-based applications are not suitable. Polyimide is a particularly interesting polymer as it has excellent chemical resistance, and membranes produced from it provide desirable separation properties – i.e. economically viable flux and good separation of nanoscale molecules. Various research works have shown that commercial polyimide organic solvent nanofiltration (OSN) membranes, trademark STARMEM™, 1 are robust and suitable for performing molecular separations. This work will discuss in detail the use of STARMEM™ in a pharmaceutical application. The EIC-OSN process was developed for separating the enantiomers of chiral compounds in pharmaceutical applications. High optical purity (94.9%) of (S)-phenylethanol from rac-phenylethanol was achieved through the use of STARMEM™122. Process simulation of the ideal eutomer-distomer system predicted that the highest theoretical resolvability from this process would be 99.2%. Other application areas of OSN are varied, including purification and fractionation in the natural products industry, homogeneous catalyst recovery, monomer separation from oligomers, etc. Currently, OSN is used in a small number of processes including a very large petrochemical application, but it has the potential to be applied to a wide range of separations across the full spectrum of the chemical industries.     

Application of monoliths for plasmid DNA purification development and transfer to production

The demand of high-purity plasmid DNA (pDNA) for gene-therapy and genetic vaccination is still increasing. For the large scale production of pharmaceutical grade plasmids generic and economic purification processes are needed. Most of the current processes for pDNA production use at least one chromatography step, which always constitutes as the key-step in the purification sequence. Monolithic chromatographic supports are an alternative to conventional supports due to their excellent mass transfer properties and their high binding capacity for pDNA. Anion-exchange chromatography is the most popular chromatography method for plasmid separation, since polynucleotides are negatively charged independent of the buffer conditions. For the implementation of a monolith-based anion exchange step into a pDNA purification process detailed screening experiments were performed. These studies included supports, ligand-types and ligand-densities and optimization of resolution and productivity. For this purpose model plasmids with a size of 4.3 and 6.9 kilo base pairs (kbp) were used. It could be shown, that up-scaling to the production scale using 800 ml CIM Convective Interaction Media radial flow monoliths is possible under low pressure conditions. CIM DEAE was successfully implemented as intermediate step of the cGMP pDNA manufacturing process. Starting from 2001 fermentation aliquots pilot scale purification runs were performed in order to prove scale-up and to predict further up-scaling to 8 1 tube monolithic columns. The analytical results obtained from these runs confirmed suitability for pharmaceutical applications.