Adsorptive Membranes for Arsenic Removal – Principles, Progress and Challenges

Arsenic pollution in water sources has been a recurring issue for the nations where groundwater is the sole source of survival. While conventional pressure-driven membrane is the epitome of a water treatment solution, it is not without limitations for arsenic removal. Thus, adsorptive membranes are studied since they combine positive features of adsorption and ultrafiltration technology that makes them able to remove arsenic effectively while offering promising flux. While there are studies reporting on the roles of adsorptive membranes for arsenic removal, there is much to discover on the performance of different adsorptive membranes in terms of adsorption capacity, regeneration potential, and stability. In this review, we survey the characteristics of a wide range of nanoadsorbents focussing on the membrane properties for arsenic removal as well as regeneration process of adsorptive membrane using different solutions. The key challenges faced during membrane fabrication and operation are also highlighted providing a better insight toward development of more robust adsorptive membranes. It is hoped that through this review, researchers will be inspired to develop more functional adsorptive membranes with not only outstanding performance but also stable performance for arsenic removal.