Recent developments of organic solvent resistant materials for membrane separations

Solute purification, solvent recovery, solvent separation in organic solvents are more and more widely used in the chemical industries, pharmaceuticals and food processing. Fast and efficient separations can be realized using membrane separation technology. Materials with strong organic solvent resistance for membrane preparation have attracted growing research interest and have been regarded as a necessary approach for various environmental and energy-related separations. Kinds of novel polymers, metal/covalent–organic framework, carbon materials, polymers of intrinsic microporosity and conjugated microporous polymers provide possibilities and solutions to prepare organic solvent resistant membranes. In view of the tremendous progress made over the past few years, it is valuable to summarize the recent developments timely and systematically in this multidisciplinary field, from which researchers can forecast trends in the future. In this review, we firstly introduced advanced membrane separation technologies, including pervaporation, organic solvent ultrafiltration, organic solvent nanofiltration, organic solvent reverse osmosis and organic solvent forward osmosis. Then we highlighted novel membrane materials and preparations in recent years and introduced the applications in the dyes separation, petroleum industry, food processing, pharmaceuticals, separation of organic solvents and wastewater treatment. Lastly, some unsolved problems and challenges at the scientific and technical level related to perspectives are discussed, prompting the further development of next-generation organic solvent resistant membranes.