A critical review and commentary on recent progress of additive manufacturing and its impact on membrane technology

A critical review and commentary on recent progress of additive manufacturing and its impact on membrane technology

Membrane separations has been increasingly recognized as a key technology platform for improving the energy efficiency of many separations processes. Likewise, additive manufacturing (AM), or 3-dimensional (3D) printing as it is often called, is a rapidly emergent technology platform for manufacturing in many industrial sectors. It has become increasingly common to marry these two platforms to take advantage of the additive nature of 3D printing with the increasing need for membrane technology that is adaptable to separations needs. Conventional membrane manufacturing approaches, such as casting, typically result in thick membranes that limit productivity and potentially waste material in a non-performing support layer. Interfacial polymerization (IP) offered a new vision for thin-film composite desalination membranes, yet it was limited to certain chemistries while exhibiting other drawbacks. Additive manufacturing offers certain benefits over these techniques to membranes, including the ability to expand the library of materials that can be processed while also offering a degree of customization that is impossible in conventional manufacturing. This review article evaluates an increasing body of literature on using printing to make membranes and considers the limitations and opportunities for printing to enhance existing membrane technology and expand the reach of membranes into other industries. We also provide a perspective from leading experts in membrane technology to see where there are opportunities to use printing in different membrane science disciplines.

膜分离已日益被视为提高许多分离过程能源效率的关键技术平台。同样，增材制造（AM），也就是常说的三维（3D）打印，是许多工业领域中一种迅速崛起的制造技术平台。将这两个平台结合起来已变得越来越普遍，以便利用3D打印的添加性特点以及对适应分离需求的膜技术日益增长的需求。传统的膜制造方法，如浇铸，通常会产生厚膜，这限制了生产效率，并可能在无作用的支撑层中浪费材料。界面聚合（IP）为薄膜复合海水淡化膜提供了新的思路，但它局限于某些化学物质，同时还存在其他缺点。增材制造相对于这些膜制造技术具有某些优势，包括能够扩大可加工材料的种类，同时还能提供一定程度的定制化，这在传统制造中是不可能的。这篇综述文章评估了越来越多关于利用打印制造膜的文献，并考虑了打印在增强现有膜技术以及将膜的应用范围扩展到其他行业方面的局限性和机遇。我们还提供了膜技术领域领先专家的观点，以了解在不同的膜科学学科中利用打印的机会所在。