Akanksha Prasad

Background: Mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) offer promising potential for efficient CO₂ separation owing to their ability to integrate the advantages of polymers and inorganic fillers. However, the polymer–zeolite interface often presents challenges such as filler agglomeration and non-ideal morphologies that limit membrane performance. Methods: This review explores strategies for tuning the polymer–zeolite interface through surface functionalization of zeolites, compatibility modification in the polymer matrix, and fabrication techniques. Emphasis is placed on membrane morphology, interface bonding, and their correlation with gas separation efficiency. Results: Functionalized zeolites were found to enhance dispersion within the polymer matrix and form stronger interfacial adhesion, leading to improved CO₂ permeability and selectivity. Several studies reported surpassing Robeson’s upper bound, indicating performance gains through tailored interfaces. Conclusions: Tailoring the polymer–zeolite interface is critical to achieving scalable, high-performance MMMs for CO₂ capture. This review identifies current progress, limitations, and future directions to facilitate industrial deployment of MMM technologies.

Reducing CO₂ emissions from human activities is a major environmental challenge. Zeolites are widely studied for this purpose because their pore structures and surface properties can be tailored for gas separation [1–3]. Techniques such as amine grafting, silane treatment, and ion exchange have improved their performance for CO₂ capture [4–6]. Work on creating zeolite nanoparticles, fibers, and foams has helped address mass transfer limitations and made it easier to incorporate zeolites into mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) [7–9]. This review summarizes these developments and discusses remaining challenges for scalable, sustainable CO₂ separation.

The kidneys serve as the primary excretory organs responsible for eliminating endogenous waste products and xenobiotics, including pharmaceutical agents and their metabolites, through urine formation. Understanding the mechanistic basis of renal drug excretion is critical for optimizing therapeutic efficacy and minimizing toxicity. This paper provides an in-depth overview of the anatomical structure and functional dynamics of renal filtration, secretion, and reabsorption processes that govern drug clearance. Blood is delivered to the kidneys via the renal artery, and filtration begins at the glomerulus where small molecules pass into the nephron while larger components remain in circulation. The filtrate undergoes further refinement through selective tubular reabsorption and active secretion, culminating in urine formation. The role of the nephron in modulating drug excretion is modeled mathematically using key pharmacokinetic parameters, including the glomerular filtration rate (GFR), free drug fraction (fu), intrinsic tubular clearance, and the area under the plasma drug concentration-time curve (AUC). This work also presents fundamental equations describing renal clearance pathways and explores factors influencing drug reabsorption and secretion. Together, these insights offer a quantitative framework for predicting renal drug clearance and guiding rational drug design and dosage regimen development.

Chromatographic separation of enantiomers is a dynamic and highly sensitive process governed by complex interactions between the chiral stationary phase, the mobile phase solvent, and the drug molecule. Traditional energy minimization approaches fail to yield a single representative structure that can explain differences in enantiomer residence times. This review explores how explicit-solvent, fully atomistic molecular dynamics (MD) simulations offer a more accurate and mechanistic understanding of chiral recognition in high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). By capturing real-time atomic interactions among solvent molecules, drug enantiomers, and chiral selectors, MD simulations provide predictive insights into stereoselective binding, elution order, and separation factors under various conditions. These simulations enhance our ability to design and optimize analytical methods for enantiomeric resolution, offering a valuable tool for pharmaceutical analysis and regulatory compliance.