Nowadays most membrane separation processes utilize membranes made from organic polymers because shape and structure can be tailored to the needs of a specific application with scalable fabrication processes such as solution casting and phase separation, coating and interfacial polymerization. This short review discusses recent progress for membranes suited for molecular separation in aqueous and organic liquids by nanofiltration, dialysis, electrodiaysis or pervaporation. Important achievements for bulk polymers suited as membrane material have been made by special processing of cellulose, development of highly stable polymers, microporous polymers and microphase-segregating copolymers. Ultrathin barrier layers are critical to combine target selectivity with high flux. Hence the scope of layer-by-layer and self-assembly of polymers as well as interfacial polymerization of standard monomers and advanced building blocks has been expanded, with the aim to obtain in situ on supports microporous materials with suited functional groups or molecular cavities. Overall, there is an increasing number of approaches which enable a precise tailoring of selectivity and boosting the flux at the same time. Hence, much higher overall separation performance compared to state-of-the-art membranes is in principle feasible.

如今，大多数膜分离工艺都使用由有机聚合物制成的膜，因为形状和结构可以通过可扩展的制造工艺（例如溶液浇铸和相分离，涂覆和界面聚合）来满足特定应用的需要。这篇简短的评论讨论了适用于通过纳滤，渗析，电渗析或全蒸发在水性和有机液体中进行分子分离的膜的最新进展。通过对纤维素进行特殊加工，开发高度稳定的聚合物，微孔聚合物和微相分离共聚物，对于适合用作膜材料的本体聚合物取得了重要的成就。超薄势垒层对于将目标选择性与高通量相结合至关重要。原位在具有合适官能团或分子腔的微孔材料上。总体而言，越来越多的方法可以精确地调整选择性并同时提高通量。因此，与现有技术的膜相比，更高的总体分离性能在原则上是可行的。