Hybrid inorganic membranes

The heart of a membrane process, simple or integrated, is the membrane itself, which represents man’s attempts to emulate the perfection of the processes active in biological membranes with the ambition of overcoming their limits, to use them in processes that contribute to improve everyday life. The “design” of a membrane takes into account the characteristics it must have in order to best respond to the needs of the process in which it will be used, according to the intrinsic properties of the material from which it is made. A hybrid membrane is a magnificent example of design engineering, which, starting from the functionality of the “simple” membrane idea and passing through functionalized membranes, acts as a bridge between polymeric and inorganic materials and aims to exploit their respective strengths, to optimize complex processes.