Recent Progress on Separation Membrane and Outlook for Future.

Separation membrane technology consists of the following four technologies. The first is the design of membrane materials, the second is the design of membrane morphology, the third is the design of element or module and the fourth is the design and operation technique of membrane separation plants. The progress on separation membrane technology in 20th century and an outlook for 21st century are reviewed in this paper.Separation membrane technology has been developing wide and deep with extending of membrane use in 20th century. In 21st century, more separation membrane will be used in water purification plants and waste water treatment plants. And the new technology for easy operating, safety and reliability of membrane or plants using membrane will be needed. I hope such new technologies will be born in basic and fundamental research on membrane science or other basic science.