Thin-film composite nanofiltration hollow fiber membranes toward textile industry effluent treatment and environmental remediation applications: review

Hollow fiber (HF) membranes are considered one of the emerging technologies in the field of membrane separation. It has undergone massive development for its various efficient applications during the past few decades. To further improve and develop the membrane technology, HF membranes have been fabricated for the nanofiltration (NF) process and found to yield higher efficiencies toward various environmental remediation applications. In this work, an elaborate discussion on the various fabrication methods and advantages of thin-film composite (TFC) NF HF membranes in the field of separation processes was listed. Moreover, the surface functionalization of such membranes to provide better separation efficiency is critically reviewed. The utilization of such thin-film HF membranes in several environmental remediation applications such as treating textile industry wastewater and other operations such as heavy metal removal, organic micropollutant removal, and inorganic salt removal has been explored in detail in this chapter. Further to this, the scope of improvements has been discussed in the conclusion section, which may enhance the overall efficiency of the thin-film composite NF HF membrane. This article will be much beneficial to the researchers for acquiring in-depth knowledge on the latitudes of various TFC HF fabrication methods, its functionalization, and wide ranges of promising environmental remediation applications.