ABSTRACT
The advances and breakthroughs in molecular design of membrane materials and membrane fabrication are of paramount importance to expand membrane technologies in modern separation processes. Because the rst polymeric hollow-ber membrane was patented as a separation device by Mahon in 1966 [1], research on hollow-ber membranes has received worldwide attention from both academia and industry, and hollow-ber membranes made from different polymeric materials have progressively penetrated into various separation processes and applications. Compared with conventional at-sheet membranes, the hollow-ber conguration offers several advantages due to its inherent characteristics and module design such as (1) a larger membrane area per unit volume of membrane modules, which results in a higher productivity; (2) good self-mechanical support to withstand backwashing for liquid separation; and (3) ease of handling during module fabrication and process operation [2-5]. Nowadays, hollow-ber membranes are widely employed as the alternative to traditional separation techniques in a broad spectrum of applications related to energy, water production, environmental, and health sciences.
