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Updated: Oct 24, 2026

Pretreatment of Lignocellulosic Biomass with Low-cost Ionic Liquids
Published on: August 10, 2016
Recent progress in cellulose membranes for ionic, molecular, and oil/water separations
Qiaorui Wang1, Xitong Wang2, Shuang Wu2
1School of Petroleum Engineering and Environmental Engineering, Yan'an University, Yan'an, 716000, PR China; College of Missile Engineering, Rocket Force University of Engineering, Xi'an, 710025, PR China.
Abstract:
Cellulose membranes offer a sustainable platform for separating ionic, molecular, and oil/water mixtures. Their crystalline nanofibrillar structure and abundant surface hydroxyls offer both a tunable pore architecture and a chemically versatile surface. This review links cellulose dissolution, membrane fabrication, and separation mechanisms into one design framework. Solvent systems were examined for how they govern dissolution and the resulting pore architecture. Fabrication technologies from dissolution-regeneration and phase inversion to melt processing and stretching, spinning, freeze-drying, and crosslinking were then compared for their control over pore structure and surface chemistry. On this basis, the mechanisms of adsorption, size sieving, Donnan exclusion, dielectric exclusion, and super-wettability were analyzed to establish structure-performance relationships. Systematic comparison of solvent systems and fabrication technologies identified the combinations best suited to specific separation targets. This review provides design principles and mechanistic insights to guide the development of next-generation cellulose membranes for water purification and resource recovery.
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