Block copolymer composite membranes for environmental remediation and biomedical application

The presence of diverse functionalities, tuneable pore size, and arrangements make block copolymers (BCPs) an effective choice for membrane technology. The self-assembly induces the development of different nanostructures enable the formation of different membranes with diverse porosity, like microfiltration membranes, nanofiltration membranes, etc. Thus, the fabrication of ultrathin membranes out of the BCPs enables its use in different fields like catalysis, water purification, molecular separation, air filtration, and dye degradation. Even though there are reviews on block copolymer membranes (BCMs) in water purification, there are no reviews on the applications of BCMs in biomedical applications and environmental remediation. Hence this review tries to bridge the gap by giving insights into the fabrication, properties, and applications of BCMs in different areas like environmental remediation, molecular separation, biomedical applications, and fuel cells. The review portrays the different synthesis methods followed for BCM fabrication like SNIPS, NIPS, solvent casting, and etching comprehensively. The properties of the BCMs and their size tunability are well-discussed to give more clarity to the researchers in this field. The review helps in identifying the suitable BCP, and the fabrication methods for tuning the properties, especially the size of pores for the judicious selection of BCMs for appropriate application. BCMs show better performance compared to conventional membranes but fouling, cost, scalability, stability, and complex synthesis limit their high-end applications. This drawback can be reduced up to a certain extent by surface functionalization and crosslinking of BCMs, and by introducing stimuli responsive characteristics. This review tries to address the limitations and put forward some new ideas for the successful utilization of BCMs for advanced applications. Thus, the review gives new insights to the researchers and scientists working in the field of membranes and their applications.