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Advancing membrane technology in organic liquids towards a sustainable future

Nature Sustainability volume 8, pages 594–605 (2025)Cite this article

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Abstract

Membrane technology holds enormous potential for reducing the energy consumption of various separation processes. It is of particular importance for energy-intensive industrial separation processes in organic liquids, such as crude oil fractionation. Most recent developments have focused on identifying ground-breaking materials that provide outstanding stability and rapid separation. However, the sustainability implications of such performance optimizations remain unclear. This Review aims to highlight how membrane technology can drive sustainability and steer industries towards a sustainable future. In particular, it provides perspectives on promising materials, manufacturing processes and industrial applications with respect to energy saving, process intensification and environmental impacts.

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Fig. 1: Six SDGs for the membrane industry, cross-referenced to the 17 SDGs from the United Nations.
Fig. 2: The strategy of materials developments for precise separation.
Fig. 3: Representative examples of developing advanced membrane processes for various applications at different TRLs that can reduce energy consumption compared with conventional technologies.
Fig. 4: The overall flow to achieve sustainable membrane industry from material design to resource circulation.
Fig. 5: Future perspective of six SDGs for membrane separation.

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Acknowledgements

J.K. and J.F.K. were supported by the Research Projects RS-2022-NR068679 and 2022M3J5A1059161 of the National Research Foundation (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) in the Republic of Korea. Z.J. acknowledges support from UK Research and Innovation Future Leaders Fellowship [MR/W009382/1]. A.G.L. was supported by the European Research Council ERC Advanced Grant number 786398.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Engineering and Materials Science, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK

    Jihoon Kim & Andrew G. Livingston

  2. Chemical Process Solution Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology, Daejeon, South Korea

    Jihoon Kim

  3. Department of Chemical Engineering, Kyung Hee University, Yongin, South Korea

    Jeong F. Kim

  4. Exactmer Ltd, London, UK

    Zhiwei Jiang & Andrew G. Livingston

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J.K., J.F.K. and Z.J. designed the initial structure of this paper with substantial discussion and feedback from A.G.L. J.K. led the writing of the initial version of this paper, preparing drafts of figures with J.F.K. and Z.J. All authors contributed to the writing, revising and reviewing of this paper.

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Kim, J., Kim, J.F., Jiang, Z. et al. Advancing membrane technology in organic liquids towards a sustainable future. Nat Sustain 8, 594–605 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-025-01570-4

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