Abstract

Membrane is a thin physical wall which can be defined as an interface between two adjacent phases functioning as a selective
barrier and regulating the transportation between them. A thin sheet of natural or synthetic material that is permeable to substances
in solution depends on their physical or chemical properties. Polymeric-inorganic composite membranes are now one of the most
important classes of engineered materials which offer several outstanding properties as compared to conventional membranes.
They can be produced from polymers such as PVC, Polystyrene, and PVA and inorganic materials such as metal phosphate,
tungstate, arsenate, and many metallic oxides are also used to make the synthetic membrane. The most of commercially utilized
synthetic membranes in separation industries are made of polymeric and inorganic composites. They can be classified, based
on their surface chemistry, bulk structure, morphology, and the production method. The chemical and physical properties
of synthetic membranes and a choice of driving force define the membrane separation processes. Synthetic membranes can
be divided into the categories such as organic (polymeric or liquid), inorganic (ceramic or metallic), composites (organic-
inorganic). These composites can be homogeneous films (polymers), heterogeneous solids (polymeric mixes and mixed glasses),
and liquids. Homogenous membranes are coherent ion-exchanger gels in the shape of disks, ribbons, etc. The heterogeneous
membranes consist of colloidal ion-exchanger particles embedded in an inert binder. Membrane based technologies witnessed
much potential to impact multimillion dollar industries in various sectors such as food/drug production, separation of pollutants,
water purification, textile, biotechnology and to fuel cell markets.