In recent years, membranes and related technologies have gained more technical and commercial relevance. Their applications have extended to environmental, chemical, medical, food, and energy industries. To date, many books on membranes have been published to awaken reader’s interest in this field. This book, however, is intended not to make a summary of the literature in these areas, but to focus on the current status of some advanced membrane technologies which are well related to human life. Eight chapters were contributed by well-known researchers and professors in the corresponding fields. Chapter 1 from Prof. Strathmann takes a roam through membrane science and technology – from desalination and artificial kidneys to fuel cell separators and membrane reactors, informing the reader of what kind of membrane technologies have come true, or might or might never come true. Chapter 2 by Prof. Tongwen Xu concentrates on the current science and technology using electro-membranes. Chapter 3 treats of the application of membranes to energy supply, which has been a hot issue for sustainable development of our earth and contributed by famous exporter (Dr J Kerres and co-worker). Chapter 4 described novel Inorganic-organic hybrid membranes, which, were recently developed and expected to be applied in such harsh conditions as high temperature and strongly oxidising circumstances. The improvements on traditional chemical processes using membrane technologies are summarised in Chapter 5 by Prof. Chung TS and his co-workers and exemplified with pervaporation for organic separation. Chapter 6 covers a hot issue in our daily life: recycling of municipal waste water using membrane bioreactors and contributed by Prof. Kim In S. Another distinctive characteristic about membrane technologies is integration flexibility, which is crucial to the realisation of multiple functions needed for a specific complex industrial application. Prof. Moon SH and Dr. Lee HJ contributed to such technique integrations. Membrane controlled release, the focus of Chapter 8 from Prof. Chu Ly, is an emerging membrane technology that might come true and has proved important in medical and pharmaceutical applications.
