The potential to enhance membrane module design with 3D printing technology

•This article discusses the designs of membrane modules via 3D printing technology•Resolution and materials play important roles during the selection of a 3D printer.•Considerations in designing 3D-printed membrane modules are presented.•The opportunities and future directions are outlined with examples.

3D printing is an emerging technology and has attracted massive attention in recent years. This article focuses on the recent developments on enhancing the membrane module design with 3D printing technology. With the recent advancement of 3D printing technology, breakthroughs in fabricating novel membrane module components are expected in the near future. Improvement of 3D printing technologies in terms of resolution, materials and speed should assure the production of various membrane module components with high efficiency.

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