Synthetic membranes for water purification: status and future.

Membrane technology offers the best options to "drought proof" mankind on an increasingly thirsty planet by purifying seawater or used (waste) water. Although desalination by reverse osmosis (RO) and wastewater treatment by membrane bioreactors are well established the various membrane technologies still need to be significantly improved in terms of separation properties, energy demand and costs. We can now define the ideal characteristics of membranes and advances in material science and novel chemistries are leading to increasingly effective membranes.