A review on chitosan-based adsorptive membranes

Membrane adsorbents have emerged as powerful and attractive tools for the removal of hazardous materials such as dyes and heavy metal ions, mainly in trace amounts, from water resources. Among membrane adsorbents, those prepared from or modified with chitosan biopolymer and its derivatives are cases of interest because of chitosan advantages including biocompatibility, biodegradability, nontoxicity, reactivity, film and fiber forming capacity and favorable hydrophilicity. This review is oriented to provide a framework for better insight into fabrication methods and applications of chitosan-based adsorptive membranes. Critical aspects including thermokinetic analyses of adsorption and regeneration capacity of the membrane adsorbents have been also overviewed. Future of chitosan-based adsorptive membranes might include efforts for the improvement of mechanical stability and reusability and also most targeted application of appropriate copolymers as well as nanostructures in preparing high performance adsorptive membranes.