# Bio-Sourced and Biodegradable Membranes
## 7 Conclusions  
Biodegradable membranes have proven to be an alternative to conventional membranes, especially in terms of permeate flux and antifouling properties. It has been successfully employed in various applications including wastewater treatment, gas separation, pervaporation, tissue engineering, food packaging, and fuel cell. In many cases, biodegradable membranes have shown comparable results to the commercial membranes such as PES, PVDF, and PTFE. The possibility to synthesize biodegradable membranes as well as to modify natural materials opens a wide opportunity to adjust and control the properties of resulted membranes, which significantly enlarges their application. One of the directions to create biodegradable materials is to incorporate biodegradable bonds into the initial chemical structure to retain the physical properties close to the properties of original material. Nevertheless, there are still a number of challenges and limitations associated with biodegradable membranes, including their degradation rate and its composition with non-biodegradable materials, which results in the waste disposal and secondary pollutions. Further studies are needed to determine the degradation mechanisms and behavior of microorganisms and enzymes under different environmental conditions. As biodegradable membranes are typically produced on pilot scales, efficient scale-up models are also needed to scale up the production process.  
Conceptualization: A.A.; Writing-Original Draft: M.E. and D.K.; Visualization: D.K.; Writing-Review & Editing: H.D., A.L. and A.A. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.  
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery Grant (DG).  
Not applicable.  
The data is available from the corresponding author ([PERSON]; A.A.) on reasonable request.  
The authors are thankful for Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), University of Saskatchewan, and Toronto Metropolitan University for the support.  
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
CNC & Cellulose nanocrystals CNT & Carbon nano-tubes CS & Chitosan CSS & Chitosan sulfate DA & Dopamine DEX & Dextran DS-PVA & Dialdehyde starch-polyvinyl alcohol FC & Fuel cell Fe-MOF & Iron metal-organic Framework FGS & Functionalized graphene sheets FITC-BSA & Fluorescein isothiyanate-labelled bovine serum albumin FO & Forward osmosis GC & Galactosylated chitosan GO & Graphene oxide GOC & Carboxylated graphene oxide GEL & Gelatin GO & Graphene oxide HA & Humic acid HAp & Hydroxyapatite HEP & Heparin MB & Methylene Blue MBA & N,N'-methylene bisacrylamide MeOH & Methanol MFC & Microbial fuel cell MMT & Montmorillonite MOFDC & Metal-organic framework derived porous carbon MPC & Poly(2-methoxyloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine) MTBE & Methyl tert-butyl ether MWCNT Multiwalled carbon nano tube SCS & Sulfated chitosan SFC & Sodium fluorescein SNPs & Silica nanoparticles PA & Poly(methyl methacrylate)-b-poly(2-acryloamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonic acid) PBS & Polybutylene Succinate PCE & Polycitrate-(\(\epsilon\)-polypeptide) PCL & Poly(caprolactone PD & Poly(methyl methacrylate)-b-poly(2-dimethylamino ethyl methacrylate) PDA & Polydopamine PDLA & Poly(D-lactic acid) PDMS & Polydimethyl-siloxane PEEK & Polyetheretherketone PEO & Poly(ethylene oxide) PES & Polyethersulfone PEG & Polyethylene glycol PGS & Poly(glycerol sebacate) PGSAP & Poly(glycerol sebacate)-co-aniline pentamer PH & Poly(methyl methacrylate)-b-poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) PHB & Polyhydroxy butyrate PHBP & Poly(hydroxybutyrate-co- hydroxyvalerate) PLA & Poly lactate acid PLLA & Poly(L-lactic acid) PMC & Poly(male acid-citric acid) PP & Polypropylene PPC & Polypropylene carbonate PPF & Polypropylene fumarate PSI & Pervaporation separation index PTFE & Polytetraftouroethylene &