Editing Microfiltration (section)

==Recent developments==

Recent advances in MF have focused on manufacturing processes for the construction of membranes and additives to promote [[coagulation]] and therefore reduce the fouling of the membrane. Since MF, UF, NF and RO are closely related, these advances are applicable to multiple processes and not MF alone.

Recently studies have shown dilute KMnO<sub>4</sub> preoxidation combined FeCl<sub>3</sub> is able to promote coagulation, leading to decreased fouling, in specific the KMnO<sub>4</sub> preoxidation exhibited an effect which decreased irreversible membrane fouling.<ref>Tian, J,  Ernst, M, Cui, F, & Jekel, M 2013 'KMnO<sub>4</sub> pre-oxidation combined with FeCl<sub>3</sub> coagulation for UF membrane fouling control', ''Desalination'', vol. 320, 1 July, pp 40-48,</ref>

Similar research has been done into the construction high flux poly(trimethylene terephthalate) (PTT) nanofiber membranes, focusing on increased throughput. Specialised heat treatment and manufacturing processes of the membrane's internal structure exhibited results indicating a 99.6% rejection rate of TiO<sub>2</sub> particles under high flux. The results indicate that this technology may be applied to existing applications to increase their efficiency via high flux membranes.<ref>Li M, Wang, D,  Xiao, R, Sun, G, Zhao, Q & Li, H 2013 'A novel high flux poly(trimethylene terephthalate) nanofiber membrane for microfiltration media', ''Separation and Purification Technology'', vol. 116, 15 September, pp 199-205</ref>