Recent Advances in Low-Carbon Membrane Materials: A Review of Material Development and Application Research

Traditional membrane separation materials suffer from drawbacks such as a high carbon footprint, significant energy consumption, membrane fouling, and the potential for secondary pollution. Under the dual drivers of carbon neutrality and carbon peak strategies, as well as the deepening of environmental governance, low-carbon membrane separation materials have emerged as a pivotal direction for the green transformation of membrane technology, leveraging their core advantages of green raw materials, low-energy preparation, and high application adaptability. This green transition is primarily achieved through the development of green raw materials and preparation processes, the enhancement of separation efficiency, and a reduction in operational energy consumption. Consequently, this review systematically summarizes the low-carbon design principles, key performance metrics, separation mechanisms, catalytic coupling technologies, and the recent application progress of several mainstream types of low-carbon membrane materials. It further identifies current bottlenecks in the research of low-carbon membrane materials such as performance trade-offs, challenges in scalable fabrication, and long-term operational instability. Finally, the review proposes future research directions aimed at developing novel membrane materials that integrate low-carbon attributes, excellent separation performance, and multifunctionality.