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. 2018 Sep 19;9:2479–2498. doi: 10.3762/bjnano.9.232

Table 4.

Application of nanocellulose material in membrane technology for environmental remediation.

Membrane application Cellulose type Membrane fabrication feature Membrane type Operating condition Membrane performance Ref.
wastewater treatment (to remove urea) nanocellulose metalized nanocellulose composites–thin film composite membrane (MNC-TFC) forward osmosis membrane crossflow forward osmosis water flux (LMH/bar):
1. urea: 7.4; wastewater: 11.8
2. urea: 5.4; wastewater: 11.5
(both membranes performed better than a commercial HTI-CTA membrane)		 [146]
removal of heavy metals (ion exchange of Cd(II) ions) cellulose nanofibers regenerated cellulose nanofiber membrane with poly(glycidyl
methacrylate) (PGMA) coating and poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) grafting using ethanol or/and water as grafting solvent		 ion exchange membrane dead-end filtration maximum Cd binding capacity, Qmax (mg/g):
1. 40.0
2. 39.8
3. 162.5
4. 138.7		 [149]
carbon dioxide capture cellulose nanofibers casting of pure microfibrillated cellulose membrane (MFC) and MFC–polyvinylamin (Lup) 50/50 wt/wt nanocompositemembrane gas permeation membrane gas permeation with constant humidity control; temperature, 35 °C; low pressure condition, 1 bar selectivity:
1. CO2/N2 500; CO2/CH4 350
2. CO2/N2 35; CO2/CH4 20		 [147]
removal of metal ions (removal of Ag+, Cu2+ and Fe2+/ Fe3+ ions) cellulose nanofibers; cellulose nanocrystals (cellulose sludge based (SL) and bioethanol based (BE));
phosphoryl group modified cellulose nanocrystal (PCNC), cellulose sludge based (SL)		 support layer fabricated by vacuum filtration of cellulose nanofibers (CNF) and active layer fabricated by dip coating of cellulose nanocrystals (CNC)
support layer fabricated by vacuum filtration of cellulose sludge (S-G) and active layer fabricated by further vacuum filtration of cellulose nanocrystals (CNC)		 ultrafiltration membrane crossflow filtration removal (%):
1. 77% Ag+, 94% Cu2+ and 95% Fe2+/Fe3
2. 91% Ag+, 99% Cu2+ and 100% Fe2+/Fe3
3. 94% Ag+, 99% Cu2+ and 100% Fe2+/Fe3
4. 100% Ag+, 13% Cu2+ and 14% Fe2+/Fe3
5. 100% Ag+, 36% Cu2+ and 33% Fe2+/Fe3
6. 100% Ag+, 86% Cu2+ and 74% Fe2+/Fe3 		[14,150]
adsorption of metal ions cellulose nanofibers; cellulose nanocrystals (cellulose sludge based (SL) and bioethanol based (BE));
TEMPO functionalized nanocrystals (bioethanol based (BE))		 support layer fabricated by vacuum filtration of cellulose sludge (S) or cellulose sludge with nanocellulose nanocrystal (SL) and active layer fabricated by further vacuum filtration of cellulose nanocrystals (CNC); in situ TEMPO functionalization on active layer ultrafiltration membrane crossflow filtration adsorption capacity (mg/g):
1. 0.81 Ag+, 250 Cu2+ and 384 Fe2+/Fe3
2. 0.83 Ag+, 254 Cu2+ and 396 Fe2+/Fe3
3. 0.86 Ag+, 339 Cu2+ and 416 Fe2+/Fe3
4. 0.87 Ag+, 374 Cu2+ and 456 Fe2+/Fe3 		[151]
removal of dyes cellulose nanocrystals casting of cellulose nanocrystals and chitosan solution ultrafiltration membrane dead-end filtration removal (%):
1. 69–98%
2. 71–98%		 [148]