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   Nanomaterials have been extensively used in polymer nanocomposite membranes due to the inclusion of unique features that enhance water and wastewater treatment performance. Compared to the pristine membranes, the incorporation of nanomodifiers not only improves membrane performance (water permeability, salt rejection, contaminant removal, selectivity), but also the intrinsic properties (hydrophilicity, porosity, antifouling properties, antimicrobial properties, mechanical, thermal, and chemical stability) of these membranes. This review focuses on applications of different types of nanomaterials: zero-dimensional (metal/metal oxide nanoparticles), one-dimensional (carbon nanotubes), two-dimensional (graphene and associated structures), and three-dimensional (zeolites and associated frameworks) nanomaterials combined with polymers towards novel polymeric nanocomposites for water and wastewater treatment applications. This review will show that combinations of nanomaterials and polymers impart enhanced features into the pristine membrane; however, the underlying issues associated with the modification processes and environmental impact of these membranes are less obvious. This review also highlights the utility of computational methods toward understanding the structural and functional properties of the membranes. Here, we highlight the fabrication methods, advantages, challenges, environmental impact, and future scope of these advanced polymeric nanocomposite membrane based systems for water and wastewater treatment applications. 

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2. Transcend the boundaries: Machine learning for designing polymeric membrane materials for gas separation

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   Xu, Jiaxin; Suleiman, Agboola; Liu, Gang; Zhang, Renzheng; Jiang, Meng; Guo, Ruilan; Luo, Tengfei (December 2024, Chemical Physics Reviews)

   Polymeric membranes have become essential for energy-efficient gas separations such as natural gas sweetening, hydrogen separation, and carbon dioxide capture. Polymeric membranes face challenges like permeability-selectivity tradeoffs, plasticization, and physical aging, limiting their broader applicability. Machine learning (ML) techniques are increasingly used to address these challenges. This review covers current ML applications in polymeric gas separation membrane design, focusing on three key components: polymer data, representation methods, and ML algorithms. Exploring diverse polymer datasets related to gas separation, encompassing experimental, computational, and synthetic data, forms the foundation of ML applications. Various polymer representation methods are discussed, ranging from traditional descriptors and fingerprints to deep learning-based embeddings. Furthermore, we examine diverse ML algorithms applied to gas separation polymers. It provides insights into fundamental concepts such as supervised and unsupervised learning, emphasizing their applications in the context of polymer membranes. The review also extends to advanced ML techniques, including data-centric and model-centric methods, aimed at addressing challenges unique to polymer membranes, focusing on accurate screening and inverse design. 

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3. Ion‐Selective MXene‐Based Membranes: Current Status and Prospects

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   Mozafari, Mohammad; Arabi_Shamsabadi, Ahmad; Rahimpour, Ahmad; Soroush, Masoud (March 2021, Advanced Materials Technologies)

   Abstract Water pollution is a major global challenge, as conventional polymeric membranes are not adequate for water treatment anymore. Among emerging materials for water treatment, composite membranes are promising, as they have simultaneously improved water permeation and ions rejection. Recently, a new family of 2D materials called MXenes has attracted considerable attention due to their appealing properties and wide applications. MXenes can be incorporated into many polymeric materials due to their high compatibility. MXenes/polymer composite membranes have been found to have appealing electrical, thermal, mechanical, and transport properties, because of strong interactions between polymer chains and surface functional groups of MXenes and the selective nanochannels that are created. This article reviews advances made in the area of ion‐selective MXene‐based membranes for water purification. It puts the advances into perspective and provides prospects. MXenes’ properties and synthesis methods are briefly described. Strategies for the preparation of MXene‐based membranes including mixed‐matrix membranes, thin‐film nanocomposite membranes, and laminated membranes are reviewed. Recent advances in ion‐separation and water‐desalination MXene‐based membranes are elucidated. The dependence of ion‐separation performance of the membranes on fabrication techniques, MXene's interlayer spacing, and MXene's various surface terminations are elucidated. Finally, opportunities and challenges in ion‐selective MXene‐based membranes are discussed. 

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4. Non-Equilibrium Block Copolymer Self-Assembly Based Porous Membrane Formation Processes Employing Multicomponent Systems

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   Porous polymer-derived membranes are useful for applications ranging from filtration and separation technologies to energy storage and conversion. Combining block copolymer (BCP) self-assembly with the industrially scalable, non-equilibrium phase inversion technique (SNIPS) yields membranes comprising periodically ordered top surface structures supported by asymmetric, hierarchical substructures that together overcome performance tradeoffs typically faced by materials derived from equilibrium approaches. This review first reports on recent advances in understanding the top surface structural evolution of a model SNIPS-derived system during standard membrane formation. Subsequently, the application of SNIPS to multicomponent systems is described, enabling pore size modulation, chemical modification, and transformation to non-polymeric materials classes without compromising the structural features that define SNIPS membranes. Perspectives on future directions of both single-component and multicomponent membrane materials are provided. This points to a rich and fertile ground for the study of fundamental as well as applied problems using non-equilibrium-derived asymmetric porous materials with tunable chemistry, composition, and structure. 

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5. Electron microscopy for imaging organelles in plants and algae

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   Weiner, Ethan; Pinskey, Justine M; Nicastro, Daniela; Otegui, Marisa S (September 2021, Plant Physiology)

   Abstract Recent developments in both instrumentation and image analysis algorithms have allowed three-dimensional electron microscopy (3D-EM) to increase automated image collections through large tissue volumes using serial block-face scanning EM (SEM) and to achieve near-atomic resolution of macromolecular complexes using cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET) and sub-tomogram averaging. In this review, we discuss applications of cryo-ET to cell biology research on plant and algal systems and the special opportunities they offer for understanding the organization of eukaryotic organelles with unprecedently resolution. However, one of the most challenging aspects for cryo-ET is sample preparation, especially for multicellular organisms. We also discuss correlative light and electron microscopy (CLEM) approaches that have been developed for ET at both room and cryogenic temperatures. 

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