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Membrane technologies are used intensively for desalination and wastewater treatment. Water filtration using ceramic membranes exhibited high performance compared with polymeric membranes due to various properties such as high resistance to fouling, permeability, rejection rate, and chemical stability. Recently, the performance of nanocomposite ceramic membranes was improved due to the development in nanotechnology. This article focusses on the development of porous ceramic membranes and nanomaterial functionalized ceramic membranes for water filtration applications. At the beginning, various fabrication methods of ceramic membranes were described, and the effect of surface modification techniques on the membrane intrinsic properties was reviewed. Then, the performance of nanoparticles functionalized ceramic membranes was evaluated in terms of physicochemical properties, rejection rate, and water permeability. This work can help new entrants and established researchers to become familiar with the current challenges and developments of nanoparticle-incorporated ceramic membranes for water filtration applications.

The use of conventional heating techniques in adsorbents preparation involves long synthesis time, high energy consumption, high cost and material fast firing. Recently, Microwave heating technique has been used to replace or complement the conventional heating in adsorbents preparation as it provides rapid, selective, and uniform heating. Consequently, the adsorbent microscopic structure and adsorption performance are affected significantly. The current review critically investigates the effect of using microwave heating technique on Carbon based, minerals and polymeric adsorbents’ morphology, surface chemistry, and pore structure. In addition, the adsorption performance of water pollutants using microwave synthesized adsorbents, adsorption kinetics and isotherms were included. A competitive comparison in terms of adsorbent morphology, pore structure and adsorptive behavior between adsorbent prepared by microwave and convention heating technique were discussed. Finally, challenging, and promising routes are suggested for future development of microwave prepared adsorbents for water pollutants removal. On the basis of this review, using microwave technology in adsorbents preparation is promising, however, further development and investigation are substantially still required.