Bioinspired and biomimetic membranes for water purification and chemical separation: A review

•The history of biological and artificial water channels is reviewed. •A comprehensive channel characterization platform is introduced. •Rationale designs and fabrications of biomimetic membranes are summarized. •The advantages, limitations, and challenges of biomimetic membranes are discussed. •The prospect and scalable solutions of biomimetic membranes are discussed. Bioinspired and biomimetic membranes that contain biological transport channels or attain their structural designs from biological systems have been through a remarkable development over the last two decades. They take advantage of the exceptional transport properties of those channels, thus possess both high permeability and selectivity, and have emerged as a promising solution to existing membranes. Since the discovery of biological water channel proteins aquaporins (AQPs), extensive efforts have been made to utilize them to make separation membranes–AQP-based membranes, which have been commercialized. The exploration of AQPs’ unique structures and transport properties has resulted in the evolution of biomimetic separation materials from protein-based to artificial channel-based membranes. However, large-scale, defect-free biomimetic membranes are not available yet. This paper reviews the state-of-the-art biomimetic membranes and summarizes the latest research progress, platform, and methodology. Then it critically discusses the potential routes of this emerging area toward scalable applications. We conclude that an appropriate combination of bioinspired concepts and molecular engineering with mature polymer industry may lead to scalable polymeric membranes with intrinsic selective channels, which will gain the merit of both desired selectivity and scalability.     

太湖主要环湖河道沉积物反硝化潜力及其控制因子

河流反硝化作用是水体氮素去除的重要途径,对流域氮负荷削减具有重要意义.为探究河网区河道的反硝化脱氮能力及其主要控制因子,本研究调查了太湖14条主要环湖河道的水质和沉积物特征,通过泥浆培养实验,利用氮氩比的方法和膜接口质谱仪分析技术,测定了14条环湖河道的沉积物反硝化潜力.结果表明,太湖环湖河道的反硝化潜力为-9.93~35.71 μmol·L^-1·d^-1,均值为（20.79±14.79） μmol·L^-1·d^-1,南部河道的反硝化潜力显著低于北部河道,负值代表沉积物的吸附或固氮行为.水柱中的硝态氮浓度、溶解氧、溶解性有机碳（DOC）和沉积物中的碳含量均会对沉积物反硝化潜力产生影响.相关分析结果表明,硝态氮浓度对河道反硝化作用的影响有限,反硝化作用对硝态氮底物的响应遵从米氏动力学模型（R²=0.77）的规律.而在太湖氮负荷严重的西部和北部河道区,水体中的DOC是反硝化潜力的主要限制因素.改善氮的去除环境对促进水体氮去除过程和区域氮管理具有重要意义,在氮负荷严重的流域河道,水体的DOC应该得到更多的关注.