Membrane technologies for sustainable development goals: A critical review of bright horizons

With the emergence of global challenges, sustainability has become a pivotal element in the world’s development agendas. To achieve global development, 17 sustainability development goals (SDGs) were developed by the United Nations in 2012. Recently, membrane technologies have been rising to the spotlight as a promising green alternative for the accomplishment of these SDGs. This is due to their numerous advantages, including high selectivity, lower cost, relatively easy upscaling, mild processing conditions, compact system with minimized steel usage, and reduced energy consumption. Despite its growing importance in sustainable development, membrane technologies have not been reviewed and rigorously analyzed for all SDGs. This review critically analyzes membrane technologies' significant position in SDGs to fill this gap in the literature. More precisely, this review uniquely delves into the versatile role of membrane technologies in contributing to the SDGs with state-of-the-art examples, hence, aiding in solving pressing global challenges such as clean water, affordable and clean energy, climate action, poverty, life below water, etc. Furthermore, by evaluating the economic and social dimensions of membrane technologies in sustainable development, this review comprehensively highlights the holistic advantages offered by various membrane processes in the accomplishment of SDGs. This paper concludes by discussing future directions that could be implemented to harness the full potential of membrane technologies in SDGs accomplishment.