During the last decades membrane technology has become a key technology in filtration and separation applications. The global water economics and mainly the global drinking water supply is based on efficient membrane processes to ensure clean water for consumption. Industrial separation processes in the food & beverage segment, in chemical processing and in all fields of biotechnology rely upon membrane technology as membrane processes treat value products and molecules with high care compared to other separation technologies. The global transformation to green energy resources requiring new energy supply and storage systems like fuel cells, electrolysis and new battery concepts depends on innovative membrane technology.

This presentation will provide an overview about latest innovations and new applications in membrane technology and about future potentials for enhanced membrane products. New membrane materials and material combinations are enhancing membrane applications with higher efficiency on the one hand and with increased separation selectivity on the other hand compared to current state-of-the-art. Specifically modified membranes become highly selective for separation of single target molecules. Modern coating technologies and multi-component material recipes will enable enhanced membrane applications with high operational robustness and attractive economic potential soon. A lot of these innovations are currently driven by start-ups, which offer an enormous innovation potential for transfer and exploitation into industrial scale.

Apart from increased membrane performance and robustness, sustainability aspects play a significant role in membrane innovations. The term “sustainability” refers to future-oriented membrane applications as well as to membranes produced from sustainable, green materials. New environmentally friendly solvents and polymers offer enhanced market potentials for membranes. The ongoing discussions about PFAS molecules contaminating water are pushing these developments. This is especially valid with respect to ion exchange membranes for energy-related applications.

Additionally to the membrane media themselves, the design of membrane modules is a key aspect for safe and economic membrane processes. New types of membrane modules allow a flexible operation and high cleaning efficiencies. Membranes themselves can be specifically designed for an easy integration into modules considering specific application conditions and providing guarantee for long-term operation.