Skip to main content
. 2020 Oct 13;10(10):281. doi: 10.3390/membranes10100281

Table 1.

Summary of applications, types of coupled processes in the hybrid membrane processes (HMP), and main advantages.

Application Types of Coupled Processes in the HMP Main Advantages Ref
Removal of secondary effluent organic matter (SEOM) from secondary effluents (SE) Photocatalytic membrane reactor (PMR) SEOM degradation >
60%reduction of membrane fouling propensity		 [30]
Treatment of primary (PE) and secondary effluents (SE) coming from municipal wastewater treatment plant PMR with UF and direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) The coupling photocatalysis-membrane processes resulted in increased the permeate flux only in the case of UF [31]
Treatment of SE coming from a municipal wastewater treatment plant for removing pharmaceuticals PMR coupling UF with:
UVC/H2O2
UVC/TiO2
UVC		 100% OTC removal
49% mineralization in 5 h
in the UVC/TiO2-UF system		 [35]
Photocatalytic degradation
of red blue 5 (RB5) 		PMR 88.89% RB5 degradation by using ZnO in 180 min
98.34% by using Fe3+@ZnO in 180 min		 [44]
Photocatalytic degradation
of rhodamine B (RhB)		 PMR RhB degradation > 60%
increased antifouling ability using a visible-light-driven g-C3N4/TNA membrane		 [45]
Photocatalytic degradation
of methylene blue (MB)		 PMR MB degradation > 90% for four consecutive runs
using P-doped g-C3N4 (PCN) as photocatalyst		 [46]
Photocatalytic degradation
of MB		 PMR 90% MB degradation after 120 min under visible light by using Ag/GO/TNTs [48]
Photocatalytic degradation
of MB		 PMR 83.5% MB degradation under simulated solar light irradiation [37]
Photocatalytic degradation
of lanasol blue 3R (LB)e		 PMR up to 91.42% LB degradation also after 5 degradation cycles
excellent self-cleaning ability
using the modified (TiO2/PSS) membrane showed 		[50]
Photocatalytic degradation
of bisphenol A (BPA)		 PMR 90% BPA removal under UV with dual-layer hollow fiber membrane (DLHF)
81.6% BPA removal under visible light using the N-doped TiO2 DLHF 		[56]
Photocatalytic degradation
of diclofenac (DCF)		 Submerged PMR (SMPR) with suspended photocatalyst Pseudo-first-order kinetic
Beneficial effect of H2O2 of on system performance		 [59]
Photocatalytic degradation of paracetamol (PCT), furosemide (FRS), nimesulide (NMD), diazepam (DZP) Tube-in-tube PMR 27.4% (PCT), 35.0% (FRS), 24.2% (NMD) and 30.0% (DZP) degradation in synthetic wastewater at steady-state for the UVC/H2O2/TiO2 system. Lower degradations by using an urban wastewater after secondary treatment [61]
Recovery and concentration of neodymium from acidic media Supported liquid membrane (SLM) 0.381 cm min−1 membrane permeability
99.14% Nd recovery
114 feed/strip concentration ratio		 [72]
Selective recovery of
lithium from lithium-rich brines		 SLM High selectivity over lithium even for high sodium/lithium concentration ratio [74]
Separation of
actinides from lean acidic effluents		 SLM ca. 98% extraction
ca. 99% stripping		 [75]
Selective separation of
Ni(II) from Cu(II)		 CP–UF 94% Cu(II) recovery in retentate
100% Ni(II) recovery in permeate
Same selectivity but a higher membrane fouling by using a real aqueous effluent		 [104]
Selective separation of
Hg(II) from Cd(II)		 CP–UF 100% Hg rejection
10% Cd rejection.
Diafiltration of the CP–UF retentate permitted increase separation selectivity		 [110]
Recovery of nickel from wastewaters CP–UF in a rotating disk system 98.26% Ni2+ rejection at a rotating speed RS < 848 rpm
polymer regeneration and nickel recovery at a RS > 848 rpm		 [105]
Removal of
copper(II) from aqueous solutions		 CP–UF in a rotating disk system 99.6% Cu(II) rejection.
Shear stability and critical shear rate of the polymer–metal complex are important in view of industrial applications of CP–UF
polymer regeneration and copper recovery at a RS > critical RS		 [111]
Removal of
arsenic ions from water		 CP–UF coupled with photocatalysis Quite complete As removal by coupling photocatalytic oxidation of As(III) to As(V) and CP–UF [116]
Treatment of oil refinery effluent Hybrid ultrafiltration-osmotic membrane bioreactor (UF-OMBR) The use of CH3COONa instead of NaCl as salt in the draw solution (DS):
favored the microbiological activity
enhanced recalcitrant biodegradation
favored the microbial growth over the membrane, thus leading to a biofouling layer formation with consequent decrease of flux
(0.60 vs. 1.07 L m−2 h−1)		 [125]
Removal of emerging contaminants (ECs) from SE HMP called USAMe®, ultrasound irradiation (US), adsorption (A), membrane filtration (Me) ECs removal of 99% by using the USAMe HMP. [126]