Emerging nanomaterial incorporated membranes for gas separation and pervaporation towards energetic-efficient applications

Gas separation (GS) and pervaporation (PV) mainly based on solution-diffusion mechanism, are two important processes for the challenging transport and separation of gaseous and vapor molecules. Various types of contemporary nanomaterials such as covalent organic frameworks (COFs) and metal organic frameworks (MOFs) have demonstrated unique channels with tuneable surface that govern transport and separation of targeted molecules. New opportunities have been revealed through incorporation of emerging nanomaterials into the structure of conventional polymeric membranes and resulted in several advantages notably improved performance and reduced energy consumptions. Due to the broad applications of GS and PV processes in the chemical industry and energy sector, the present manuscript aims to review the principle for gas separation and pervaporation in membrane molecular separation process in terms of solution-diffusion theory. In addition, the current status of membranes containing emerging nanomaterials for GS and PV are discussed comprehensively from different aspects. Furthermore, the current applications of nanomaterials incorporated mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) are described. Finally, the perspectives and future directions of remarkable performance membranes incorporated with diverse emerging nanomaterials are explained so as to facilitate the rapid advancement of energetic-efficient membranes toward practically industrial applications.