Membrane processes today play a signifi cant role in the replacement therapy for acute and chronic organ failure diseases. Current extracorporeal blood purifi cation and oxygenation devices employ membranes acting as selective barriers for the removal of endogeneous and exogeneous toxins and for gas exchange, respectively. Additionally, membrane technology offers new interesting opportunities for the design of bioartificial livers, pancreas, kidneys, lungs etc. This book reviews the latest developments in membrane systems for bioartificial organs and regenerative medicine, investigates how membrane technology can improve the quality and efficiency of biomedical devices, and highlights the design procedures for membrane materials covering the preparation, characterization, and sterilization steps as well as transport phenomena. The different strategies pursued for the development of membrane bioartifi cial organs, including crucial issues related to blood/cell-membrane interactions are described with the aim of opening new and exciting frontiers in the coming decades. The book is a valuable tool for tissue engineers, clinicians, biomaterials scientists, membranologists as well as biologists and biotechnologists. It is also a source of reference for students, academic and industrial researchers in the topic of biotechnology, biomedical engineering, materials science and medicine.

This book covers all the basic and applied aspects of crystallization processes based on membrane technology. Synthesis and processing of membrane materials are discussed and reviewed, while mass/heat transport and control are treated in view of the non-reversible thermodynamic principles and statistical thermodynamics. Engineering process design and crystalline materials products properties, and also the relation to other traditional crystallization formats, are analyzed. Advantages, limitations, and future developments are also included in the content, with special emphasis on new fields of applications like microfluidic configurations, controlled proteins (also membrane proteins) crystallization, organic semiconductors single crystals production, and optical materials.

Continuous crystallization is an area of intense research, with particular respect to the pharmaceutical industry and fine chemicals. Improvements in continuous crystallization technologies offer chemical industries significant financial gains, through reduced expenditure and operational costs, and consistent product quality. Written by well-known leaders in the field, The Handbook of Continuous Crystallization presents fundamental and applied knowledge, with attention paid to application and scaling up, and the burgeoning area of process intensification. Beginning with concepts around crystallization techniques and control strategies, the reader will learn about experimental methods and computational tools. Case studies spanning fine and bulk chemicals, the pharmaceutical industry, and employing new mathematical tools, put theory into context.

Current Trends and Future Developments on (Bio-) Membranes: Membrane Desalination Systems: The Next Generation explores recent developments and future perspectives in the area of membrane desalination systems. It includes fundamental principles, the different types of smart nano-structured materials, energy and brine disposal issues, design approaches and the environmental impact of membrane desalination technology. The book provides an extensive review of literature in the area of membranes for desalination systems of low energy consumption and discusses the membrane modelling necessary for desalination system validation in achieving high water recovery, low energy and near-zero liquid discharge.