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Abstract Membranes serve as important components for modern manufacturing and purification processes but are conventionally associated with excessive solvent usage. Here, for the first time, a procedure for fabricating large area polysulfone membranes is demonstrated via the combination of direct ink writing (DIW) with non-solvent induced phase inversion (NIPS). The superior control and precision of this process allows for complete utilization of the polymer dope solution during membrane fabrication, thus enabling a significant reduction in material usage. Compared to doctor blade fabrication, a 63% reduction in dope solution volume was achieved using the DIW technique for fabricating similarly sized membranes. Cross flow filtration analysis revealed that, independent of the manufacturing method (DIWvs.doctor blade), the membranes exhibited near identical separation properties. The separation properties were assessed in terms of bovine serum albumin (BSA) rejection and permeances (pressure normalized flux) of pure water and BSA solution. This new manufacturing strategy allows for the reduction of material and solvent usage while providing a large toolkit of tunable parameters which can aid in advancing membrane technology. 

Abstract Catalytic membranes offer opportunities to develop modular, process‐intensified units. Dual‐functional materials, which integrate reactive and separation components in a single material, could play an important role in enabling them. Adapting the various characterization tools that are used to analyze the structures of metal‐based catalysts to these integrated structures could provide vital information for their design and implementation. In this perspective, we highlight the ways in which these tools can be used to analyze nonreactive membranes and non‐integrated systems where the catalyst and the membrane operate as two separate units. A methodology developed to analyze these comparatively simpler systems could be subsequently extended to integrated dual‐functional catalytic membranes. Thus, researchers from the catalysis and membranes communities can work together in a way that will not only lead to fundamental advancements in our understanding of catalytic membranes but also enable their transformation into real, scalable process‐intensified units.