Severe fouling and consequent performance collapse of membrane processes remain key challenges that require further investigation for high-salinity organic wastewater. We introduce an electric-field "repulsion-shield" strategy turning fouling from an inevitable decline into a controllable event. A self-standing PBC/PVA/GA (polypyrrole-coated bacterial cellulose/polyvinyl alcohol/glutaraldehyde) membrane, woven into a bird's-nest-like 3D conductor by a fiber-stacking/spatial-entanglement route, serves as the demonstrator: it blocks >99.9% of dyes yet passes >99.0% of salts, retains this ability after folding, and shows zero leaching after 2 months in pure water, 1 month in ethanol, and excursions through 90 degrees C, pH 1, and - 20 degrees C. After 25 h of continuous filtration, a 1.7 V pulse during backwashing fully recovers the initial flux. Over multiple cycles and pollutant models, apply a suitable voltage maintains 100% flux recovery (FRR) and halves the long-term permeate decline. Combined with the fouling model fitting results, this exceptional antifouling behavior was proposed to stem from the electric field's ability to re-engineer the fouling pathway-switching the dominant mechanism from irreversible complete pore blocking to a reversible, loosely packed cake layer that can be effortlessly removed. Density functional theory calculations further validated this assertion through field tuned intermolecular potential analysis. The work establishes a low-energy, electrostatically gated route to sustainable membrane separations.

Efficient separation of small-molecule organics (e.g., dyes, pharmaceuticals, peptides) and salt ions is critical for resource cycling and zero-liquid-discharge wastewater treatment. However, conventional pressure-driven membrane processes are limited by the ubiquitous permeability-selectivity trade-off and often suffer from inadequate fouling resistance. This study developed a self-entangled topological membrane with an irregularly interpenetrated network by physical mixing conductive polypyrrole-coated bacterial cellulose (PPy@BC) with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), and then was stabilized with a glutaraldehyde (GA) crosslinking (denoted as TPPG). Using a self-designed electric field-coupled cross-flow setup, the TPPG membrane achieved an ultrahigh rejection ratio of 99.9 % for organic compounds (>250 Da), whereas almost zero rejection ratio <= 0.3 % for salt ions (mono-, di-, and trivalent). It should also be pointed out that this outstanding performance showed no decay even after 24 h or more of operation. Simultaneously, it delivered an exceptional water flux of similar to 850 L m(-2) h(-1)bar(-1), surpassing most of commercial or literature-reported membranes by 1-2 orders of magnitude. Based on continuum modelling, the applied electric field (regardless of polarity) was revealed to be capable of enhancing confinement-induced concentration polarization and electrostatic repulsion within the TPPG's topological nanochannels by restructuring the double electrical layer. The transmembrane transport of salt ions was thereby accelerated, enabling their complete separation from organics. This work opens a new avenue for precise and highly efficient membrane based separation of small-molecule organics and salts.

Interfacial polymerization (IP) is a technique widely used to synthesize thin-film composite (TFC) membranes. However, the inherent complexity of interfacial systems hinders achieving deeper insights into the film formation mechanism. In-situ characterization of IP by means of microfluidics is a promising approach for this purpose. Stable interfaces are essential for microfluidic-based IP, yet they can be difficult to maintain in parallel-flow devices. Therefore, this work aims to bridge disciplines by translating established microfluidic design principles and experimental techniques into actionable insights and guidelines for membrane technology. The effect of channel dimensions and microfluidic pillar configuration on the interfacial stability in parylene-coated polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microchannels was investigated through microscopy experiments, theoretical calculations, and computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Stable liquid-air (L-A) and liquid-liquid (L-L) interfaces were formed by the presence of a hydrophobic stop valve. Increasing the channel height and square-shaped pillars resulted in the most stable interfaces. Microfluidic-based IP was successfully performed, whereas brightfield imaging revealed the solvent’s impact on film structure and formation kinetics. Finally, a cheap and easy-to-use microfluidic platform is proposed. The liquids could simply be injected into the channels with a pipet, entirely omitting the need for external flow control. This work aims to provide guidelines for membrane researchers, enabling them to tailor microfluidic platforms for understanding IP film formation for different applications.

Milk proteins can change when exposed to different physicochemical conditions, which affects their colloidal stability and how well they separate during membrane filtration. To study this, skim camel milk was microfiltered at 10 °C using a 0.1 μm PVDF membrane after three pretreatments, briefly: preheating (78 °C, 15 s), acidification (pH 5.5), and freezing/thawing, with fresh skim milk as a control. Flux and protein transmission were quantified, membrane fouling was interpreted using resistance-in-series and Hermia models, and fouled membranes were characterized by SEM, FTIR, and contact angle measurements. Pretreatment markedly shifted MF performance: preheating produced the most stable flux (≈17% decline) and reduced β-casein permeation, whereas freezing/thawing caused the strongest flux loss (≈64%), consistent with micelle destabilization and protein aggregation; acidification accelerated fouling compared with the native pH feed. In all cases, reversible resistance dominated (>90%), and intermediate pore blocking was the most plausible Hermia mechanism, although mechanistic fits were not uniformly strong across treatments. SEM confirmed cake-layer formation, with preheated milk generating the thickest and most compact deposit, and FTIR indicated protein-rich foulants. Finally, an artificial neural network captured the nonlinear effects of time and pretreatment on flux and casein retention (R2 ∼0.95), outperforming the mechanistic models. Based on these findings, it was concluded that brief preheating is a practical approach to improving the cold MF of camel milk by enhancing casein retention and flux stability.

Porous materials with intrinsic cavities, such as n-cyclodextrin (n-CD), are promising building blocks of membranes. However, conventional interfacial polymerization (IP) often produces thick, disordered polymeric network that instead blocks their cavity interconnections and sacrifices their intrinsic advantages. To overcome this issue, this study proposed a novel salt-mediated IP strategy that leverages the cation ... n-CD coordination (namely M+ ... n-CD) effect to regulate monomer diffusion towards the aqueous-organic interface, resulting in a thinner and more ordered n-CD layer in thin-film composite (TFC) membranes. The mechanisms by which salt additives influence membrane properties were explored in-depth in terms of the membrane surface morphology, chemical composition and physical properties. With a deliberately chosen series of salt additives (i.e., LiCl, NaCl, KCl, K2CO3, and K2SO4), the salt additives significantly enhanced the stability of the polyester (PE) film in the TFC membrane. The more crumpled nanostructure and increased free volume in the mediated IP layer were also elucidated via the changes in the specific heat of the aqueous solution, and the presence of salt crystals. The types and dosages of the salt additive played significant roles on the membrane performance. Notably, the membrane synthesized with 3.0 wt% K2SO4 demonstrated both enhanced permeance of 57.3 L m-2 center dot hr-1 center dot bar-1 and high rejection for both anionic and cationic dyes (i.e., 99.9 % for Victoria Pure Blue BO (VPB BO), and 99.4 % for Direct Red 23 (DR23)), achieving sustainable performance in dye/salt fractionation under high salinity conditions. This work fills an important knowledge gap in the understanding the effectiveness of inorganic salt additives in tuning IP dynamics for macrocyclic monomers, presenting a cost-effective approach to fabricate highperformance membranes.

Electrospun nanofibre ion exchange (IEX) membranes have significant advantages for advancing protein separation, yet their low dynamic binding capacities have limited their practical applications. Understanding optimum membrane morphologies and binding interactions at the interface between nanofibres and proteins will provide vital knowledge for the design of those electrospun nanofibre IEX membranes. Herein, we employed computational fluid dynamics coupled with a discrete phase model to predict protein trajectories and simulate protein binding on IEX nanofibres based on the force balance. Using the Derjaguin, Landau, Verwey, and Overbeek (DLVO) theory, we incorporated van der Waals (vdW) and electrostatic forces into the simulations through user-defined scalars and user-defined functions in Ansys Fluent. The effect of pH on binding was significant due to the dominant electrostatic interaction between the proteins and nanofibres. For the model protein bovine serum albumin, maximum binding was achieved in the pH range of 7.5-8.5. Binding efficiencies are improved by 200% with the increase in the specific surface area of the membrane matrix from M10 to M3. This study provides significant insights into the parameter design of high-performance ion-exchange adsorptive nanofibrous membranes for high- throughput separation.

To address the global water crisis, desalination technologies contribute about 1% of the global freshwater supply. Membrane-based desalination technologies offer high performance, operational ease, cost-effectiveness and high scalability compared to conventional thermal desalination modes. Among all membrane-based technologies, reverse osmosis is prevailing globally. However, the high energy demand of the reverse osmosis process and fouling in case of hypersaline feed streams motivate the exploration of alternative technologies, i.e., pervaporation. Pervaporation desalination involves dense hydrophilic polymer membranes to deal with high salt streams at low cost, along with less fouling than a few other membrane processes, i.e., reverse osmosis and membrane distillation. Mass transport through pervaporation desalination membranes is well-explained by solution-diffusion theory involving a tri-stage transfer, i.e., sorption, diffusion and evaporation. Since the last few decades, a green approach in all domains has offered chemical products and processes with the least hazards and minimal waste production. Application of biodegradable materials like poly(lactic acid) in combination with suitable green solvents, e.g., ethyl lactate, methyl lactate, cyrene, dimethyl isosorbide and gamma valerolactone for pervaporation desalination would be a good roadmap to meet the sustainability criterion. Some intrinsic features of poly(lactic acid) that make it a ‘material of choice’ for pervaporation desalination include hydrophilicity imparted by the presence of polar ester groups, high salt rejection, biodegradability with simple mineralization products, i.e., H2O and CO2, sustainable production, low toxicity, low carbon footprint, ease of processing and versatility. Poly(lactic acid) undergoes four interrelated degradation mechanisms: hydrolytic degradation, biodegradation, thermal degradation and photodegradation. The concern for poly(lactic acid) based pervaporation desalination is increased hydrolytic cleavage of poly(lactic acid) at high temperatures, which requires some modifications, e.g., nanoenhancement, additions of crosslinkers, surface modifications, addition of other polymers to prepare blends and post-treatments. These modifying strategies result in an increased stability and better performance of poly(lactic acid) films. However, optimization of various parameters relevant to such modifications leaves room for further research. This review offers a critical analysis of the need for biodegradable polymers with special focus on poly(lactic acid) rather than their fossil fuel-based alternatives, the environmental and health effects of all these polymers, cost estimation and possible performance-efficient, green and eco-friendly solutions.

Affinity membrane chromatography (MC) offers a compelling alternative to resin-based separations by coupling convective transport with molecularly selective ligand-protein recognition. Despite decades of development, affinity MC has achieved only limited performance gains, largely because ligand immobilization and functional-layer construction remain chemically underdefined. Binding capacity and selectivity are still governed by empirically chosen reaction pathways rather than predictive design principles. This review reframes affinity MC through the lens of chemical design rules, elucidating how interfacial reaction mechanisms, functional-layer architecture, and ligand molecular structure collectively control affinity performance. Guided by the aim to overcome the selectivity-permeability trade-off, we analyze how immobilization chemistries dictate ligand orientation, accessibility, and alkaline stability, how spatial organization within functional layers regulates effective binding, and how rational ligand engineering can overcome intrinsic limitations. Importantly, we highlight how controlling reaction orthogonality and interfacial kinetics enables the construction of chemically defined affinity layers that are compatible with high-surface-area membrane architectures. By integrating advances in surface chemistry, polymer reaction engineering, and biomolecular recognition, we establish a set of chemical design rules that shift affinity MC from empirical optimization toward rational materials design. This framework provides a foundation for developing next-generation affinity membranes with enhanced capacity, durability, and translational relevance in downstream bioprocessing.

Selective electrodialysis (SED) is a promising method to extract lithium from LIB leachate solution containing coexisting divalent cations. However, the optimization of the process is not trivial due to many influencing parameters. Current studies did not consider the interaction effects between operating parameters, leading to incomplete or local optimization. To fill this knowledge gap, this research integrated a statistical approach to study the relevance of the interactions between the operating parameters. Using a realistic synthetic LIB leachate, the SED performance was studied via analysing the interplay amongst voltage, hydrodynamics, feed composition and multi-stage configuration. The results demonstrated that each operating parameter exerted a distinct and measurable influence on the key performance metrics, even when evaluated against the same response variable. In particular, the multistage operation offered distinct advantages: both two-stage and three-stage configurations maintained more consistent selectivity over time compared to single-stage. Notably, the three-stage system reduced energy consumption by up to 57.8 %. To streamline experimentation and identify optimal conditions, statistical design of experiments (DOE) was employed to evaluate the statistical significance of individual effect of each operating parameter and also their interactions. The resulting regression model enabled the identification of an optimal operating window that maximized Li+ transport rate, selectivity, and energy efficiency. Under optimized conditions, incorporating the interaction effects between relevant parameters, the SED system achieved a Li+/Co2+ permselectivity of 17.3, a Li+ transport rate of 0.34 mmol/s.m.2, and a SEC of approximately 20 kWh/(kg Li). Overall, this study demonstrates the utility of statistical DOE and parametric analysis in enhancing separation performance and energy efficiency, and underscores the importance of optimizing operating conditions for sustainable lithium recovery.

Ammonium-rich saline wastewater is widely generated across chemical, metallurgical, and resource recovery industries. Since ammonia predominantly exists as non-volatile NH4+ under typical conditions, concentration depends almost entirely on water removal, leading to long treatment cycles and high energy demand. Membrane distillation (MD) is a promising candidate for treating these effluents, but its efficacy is limited by the competing transport of water and ammonia. This study elucidates the distinct transport behavior in MD, revealing that water flux and recovery are governed by temperature, while ammonia transfer is controlled by the pH-dependent NH4+/NH(3 )equilibrium. Although low pH suppresses ammonia permeation, the results demonstrate that MD alone is insufficient to achieve high concentration factors within practical timeframes. To address these limitations, electrodialysis (ED) was introduced as a pre-concentration stage. A Box-Behnken response-surface design identified optimal ED conditions (1:3 initial concentrate-to-diluate volume ratio, 5 A current, and 98 min duration), with experimental results closely aligning with model predictions (<2% deviation). Hybrid experiments confirmed that this coupled configuration yielded final concentrations 8-11% higher than MD alone, successfully reaching the saturation threshold for subsequent cooling crystallization. Furthermore, the integrated process halved the operation time and reduced total energy consumption by 40-45%. This dual-stage strategy overcomes the kinetic and energetic bottlenecks of MD, providing a reliable approach for the efficient concentration of highly saline or near-saturation streams.

Discriminating among monovalent ions of similar charge and size, such as Li+, Na+, and K+, remains one of the most persistent challenges in separation science. Here we present a green, external-acid-free route to fabricate defect-free covalent organic framework (COF)-based thin-film composite (TFC) membranes for high precision monovalent-ion sieving. The method relies on a dynamic electric-field-assisted strategy in which an alternating electric field couples electrophoretic monomer assembly at the surface of an ion-exchange membrane (IEM) substrate with spatiotemporally resolved delivery of hydronium ions generated in situ via water splitting. This localized in situ-generated acid pulse initiates interfacial condensation into primary COF nuclei, which subsequently undergo continuous growth and fusion into a uniform ultrathin film through a self-healing mechanism. The proposed membrane formation strategy effectively suppresses non-selective transport pathways and enables rapid formation of highly selective ion-transport channels, resulting in a membrane with near-complete fractionation of Li+ from other monovalent ions (e.g., K+ and Na+), while preserving fast ion permeation that exceeds that of previously reported membranes. The governing ion separation mechanism is elucidated as hydration-shell restructuring under electrostatic confinement. The work establishes a scalable and energy-efficient platform for precision ion separation and opens new opportunities for membrane-based resource recovery and molecular purification.

Direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD), a promising membrane separation technology, holds great potential for treating high-salinity wastewater. However, energy efficiency and long-term operational stability remain critical challenges for its industrial application. This study systematically investigated the effects of membrane properties, feed temperature, and salt concentration on the heat-mass transfer characteristics of DCMD. Transfer behaviors were quantitatively analyzed based on the membrane mass transfer coefficient (k(m)), temperature polarization coefficient (TPC), and concentration polarization coefficient (CPC). Results indicated that larger-pore (0.45 mu m) PTFE membranes yielded higher initial flux (35 kg/m(2)h), but suffered from lower porosity and intensified salt crystallization, leading to inferior long-term performance. Conversely, smaller-pore membranes (0.22 mu m) demonstrated better stability under high salinity, with flux decline delayed from 6 h for PTFE-0.45 to approximately 9 h and 14 h for PTFE-0.22 and PVDF-0.22, respectively. A feed temperature of 60 degrees C was found to optimally balance flux stability and energy efficiency, maintaining comparable GOR to 70 degrees C while reducing thermal losses and delaying performance decline. Under high salt concentration (1.5 X), severe scaling led to > 90 % reduction in k(m), while TPC increasing markedly with water recovery, identifying temperature polarization as the dominant factor that rendered performance instability. These findings provide fundamental insights into limiting factors of the DCMD process in near zero liquid discharge applications, offering practical guidance for membrane selection and process scale-up.

With the increasing demand for Li-ion batteries in electric vehicles and electronics, the recovery of valuable metals from spent Li-ion batteries (SLIBs) becomes crucial from both economic and environmental perspectives. However, there is a lack of holistic perspectives on developing sustainable technologies to advance the value chain of valuable metals from SLIBs. Thus, this review has systematically examined existing upstream and downstream technologies for metals recovery from SLIBs to figure out the trends of these technologies. For upstream recovery, the evolution of pyrometallurgical techniques was discussed, while applications of hydrometallurgical methods were comprehensively analyzed. Synthetic biology tools and metabolic engineering were recommended to enhance the tolerance of microorganisms in biohydrometallurgy towards its industrialization. We proposed that a tandem biological and hydrothermal leaching process could realize a robust and highly efficient metal leaching from SLIBs. Downstream separation technologies play a pivotal role in fractionation of metal ions. Membrane technologies are extensively compared for selective separation of specific metal ions and acids from SLIBs leachate. Despite the unique advantage in environmental friendliness over industrial solvent extraction and precipitation methods, an imbalance between selectivity and cost limits the commercialization of membrane technologies. Key features were specifically concluded for both conventional and emerging membrane processes. Through the analysis of the state-of-the-art and trends of industrial SLIBs recycling business, this review offers promising outlooks on technological development and industrialization based on the entire value chain. Eventually, this review promotes the recycling of valuable metals from SLIBs to a higher innovation level by adopting more sustainable and cost-efficient technologies.

The fractionation of common metal ion pairs, such as manganese (Mn2+) and cobalt (Co2+), from mixed streams is critical for producing high-purity commodities but remains challenging. This study proposes a simultaneous fractionation strategy to recover Mn2+ and Co2+ from simulated wastewater containing a high organic acid concentration by applying two solvent extraction-based membranes: a Mn2+ selective polymer inclusion membrane (PIM) and a Co2+ selective supported liquid membrane (SLM). Firstly, a novel approach was undertaken by fabricating PIM containing di(2-ethylhexyl)phosphoric acid using various casting substrates. The application of rougher, more hydrophobic PTFE substrates improved the ion transport rate by a factor of 2.4 (0.045 mg/cm2 & sdot;h) compared to glass substrate, likely due to enhanced formation of continuous ion channels that facilitated transport through fixed site jumping mechanism. For Co2+ extraction, SLMs were designed using a binary extractant of Lix-63 and Versatic Acid 10. When selecting high porosity supporting membrane, the addition of diluent into SLM at 1:1 ratio improved the Co2+ transport rate by 1.6-fold. Simultaneous fractionation was achieved by integrating PIM and SLM. At pH 2.3, the Co2+ stream achieved nearly 100 % purity with 33 % extraction in 30 h; while the Mn2+ stream reached 65 % extraction with reasonable purity. At pH 3.5, complete removal of both metals was demonstrated, though with compromised purity. The findings underscore the importance of substrate selection and operating conditions considering the permeability-selectivity trade-off in solvent extraction-based membrane process. This strategy demonstrates potential to achieve efficient ion recovery and high-purity streams, advancing closed-loop utilization of critical metals.

To address evolving technological demands in wastewater treatment including meeting dual-carbon goals and removing emerging contaminants, the development of innovative technologies is imperative. This study proposes a novel hybrid system integrating microalgal-bacterial granular sludge (MBGS) with membrane filtration for domestic wastewater treatment and efficient antibiotic removal. The optimized MBGS configuration demonstrated high removal efficiencies for pollutants: 94.1 % for COD, 83.2 % for TN, 99.3 % for NH4+-N, and 97.7 % for TP, which had well met the sewage treatment standards. Furthermore, the MBGS-UF system achieved a 1.6-fold reduction in membrane fouling compared to a conventional activated sludge (CAS) system treating domestic wastewater. Subsequently, sulfadiazine (SDZ) was used as a model antibiotic to examine this new hybrid system and results showed that it can efficiently remove the SDZ with 45 % and 56 % SDZ elimination at 1 mg/L and 10 mg/L levels of SDZ. This work establishes MBGS technology as a promising mainstream solution for sustainable wastewater remediation, particularly suitable for integrating with membrane unit for mitigating fouling problem and the emerging micropollutants.

Membranes with precise ion transport behaviors are regarded as an alternative for lithium (Li) extraction from water streams. Current membranes demonstrate limited viability due to the lack of efficient Li + -selective architectures. We propose an electric field–assisted ion control hypothesis in reinforcing ultraefficient Li + -selective membranes, in which an ionized zeolitic imidazolate framework layer (Q-PEI@ZIF) is constructed via polyethylenimine (PEI) in situ confinement conversion and subsequent quaternization of 2,3-epoxypropyl trimethyl ammonium chloride. In electrodialysis at 5 milliampere per square centimeter, the resulting membrane Q(5%)-PEI(1.0)@ZIF#CEM shows that the ion permeation rates follow the order of K + ~ Li + > Na + > Ca 2+ ~ Mg 2+ , corresponding to 0.31, 0.30, 0.25, 0, and 0 mole per square meter per hour in 120 minutes, respectively. With a 25-millimolar Li + /Mg 2+ mixed solution, it exhibits an unprecedented Li + /Mg 2+ permselectivity of 20,000 and 99.99% purity of Li + product in 120 minutes. This study expands the hypothesis of electric field–assisted ion control in enabling an ultraefficient Li + -selective construction.

Due to the hydrophobic nature of conventional membrane distillation membranes, the treatment of oily waters by MD poses many challenges leading to the adhesion of oil droplets onto the membrane surfaces, causing fouling and wetting. Here we developed a novel salinity-responsive poly(acrylic-acid)-grafted PVDF membranes to impart anti-oil-fouling properties via a UV-assisted oxygen tolerant atom-transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) method, which can be performed under open atmosphere to achieve facile control and hence overcomes the limitation of traditional ATRP. The successful grafting was confirmed by ATR-FTIR and SEM-EDX. The membrane surface morphology was unaffected by the PAA chains; while surface hydrophilicity was improved with decreased water contact angle from 134 +/- 2(degrees) for the PVDF membrane to 110 +/- 3(degrees) for the PVDF-PAA membrane. The Salinity response was confirmed when NaCl concentration was above 0.01 M which lead to a superoleophobic surface that inhibited oil drop adhesion, while lower concentrations allowed surface adhesion. Direct contact MD testing over 20 h in a 0.1 % (v/v) dodecane dispersion containing 0.1 M NaCl showed oil attachment resistance (anti-fouling) of the modified membranes indicated by stable permeate flux and no increase in permeate salinity. Meanwhile the unmodified PVDF membrane rapidly lost flux and permeate quality in the same test duration. The proposed scalable oxygen tolerant ATRP method and salinity-responsive membranes can be prospective in MD applications involving complex saline oily wastewaters containing hydrophobic, hydrophilic and amphiphilic compounds.

The rapid increase in antibody demand is urgently calling for high throughput technologies to enhance the efficiency in downstream purification. Membrane chromatography using membrane adsorbents (MAs) has emerged as an attractive alternative. Nevertheless, despite the increasing research efforts made in the past decades, there is a lack of a comprehensive understanding of the structure – chemistry – performance relationship of MAs used in antibody purification, leaving the development of MAs in trial-and-error without a rational guideline. To fill the knowledge gaps, this work focuses on analyzing the key factors influencing the efficiency of bind-and-elute operation of MAs in antibody capture, aiming to bring logics to the choices of membrane materials and structure properties and surface/ligand chemistries in different chromatographic modes. Despite its essential role in antibody binding, the impact of the membrane pore structure was only considered by less than one quarter of the literature. Given a comparatively low antibody binding capacity for affinity MC (roughly in the order of 10–30 mg/ml bed volume), non-affinity types exhibit significant potential but only if the selectivity could be further improved. The common pore size range of the substrates reported in the literature was around 0.2–1 µm, however, when employing surface functionalization, the choices of the functionalization degree and layer thickness were not carefully made, leading to compromised binding and throughput. Scalable fabrication techniques such as electrospinning are investigated in other fields, but are still at the infancy stage for antibody capture applications. Although conventional affinity ligands are well-explored, there is a growing interest to explore alternative and cheaper affinity (e.g., peptides) or non-affinity ligands that can serve in the bind-and-elute of antibodies. With new ligands, it is essential to understand the binding and elution kinetics assisted by mathematical simulations, which however remain under-investigated. Overall, this review provided an in-depth analysis of current developments in research and new thoughts toward designing next-generation membrane chromatography for filling the supply gaps of antibody products.