3D printing’s next step: Precision membranes

3D printing has improved the areas of medicine, art and manufacturing—and it is now journeying into the realm of membrane engineering. Researchers from the University of Bath have hope in the future of 3D printing techniques to improve membrane capabilities with precision construction.

In a study published by the University's Center for Advanced Separations Engineering, researchers test the pros and cons of different 3D printing techniques in order to identify future developments in membrane fabrication and how these techniques can be used to make more accurate membranes.

With 3D printing of membranes, the membrane preparation allows for more precise membranes, different sizes and types than any other method before. These innovations could improve the energy and down-time with cleaning blockages and tangling of membranes.

"This review is the first to explore the possibility and challenges of using 3D printing for producing separation membranes,” said Darrell Patterson, the director of the Center for Advanced Separations Engineering at the University of Bath in the U.K. "Although 3D printing technology is not quite well enough developed to yet produce large scale membranes that will be cost competitive with existing products, this work does signal what the future possibilities are with 3D printing, to produce membranes beyond that which are currently available, including controlled complex pore structures, integrated surface patterns and membranes based on nature."