The increasing incidence of diseases and health issues, due to the consumption of toxic food items and beverages, is pushing up the requirement for polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) membranes across the world. This is because this membrane assists in filtering out the toxic materials present in the food items and beverages. Moreover, these membranes are extensively used for removing spoilage organisms and contaminants from foods and beverages and for brewing beer.

Additionally, these membranes are heavily used in the water treatment and pharmaceutical industries, on account of their ability to efficiently filter products such as proteins and preservatives, due to their excellent retention and low protein binding characteristics and high flow rates. Due to these factors, the demand for this membrane is mushrooming globally, which is, in turn, driving the expansion of the global PVDF membrane market. Hydrophobic and hydrophilic are the two most widely used types of membranes.

Between these two, the demand for the hydrophilic PVDF membranes was found to be higher during the past few years. This is because these membranes offer high flow rates and throughputs for mobile-phase and solvent-based chromatographic applications and can also be used in major biopharmaceutical applications. In terms of technology, the PVDF membranes are divided into nanofiltration (NF), microfiltration (MF), and ultrafiltration (UF) membranes. Amongst these, the usage of the NF PVDF membranes will rise rapidly in the forthcoming years.

This will be because of their large-scale usage in water purification processes and their ability to operate in a low-pressure environment with a high-water flux and enhanced rejection for even the smallest monovalent ions. Biopharmaceutical, food and beverage, and water and wastewater treatment are the major application areas of PVDF membranes. Out of these, the requirement for these membranes was observed to be the highest in the biopharmaceutical applications in the years gone by.

This is credited to the boom in the biopharmaceutical industry, because of the rising requirement for vaccines and more purified drugs, on account of the surging prevalence of various diseases. Globally, the demand for the PVDF membranes was the highest in North America during the last few years. This was because of the huge requirement for the membrane technology in the food and beverage, water and wastewater treatment, and biopharmaceutical industries in the region.

Additionally, the expansion of the water and wastewater treatment industry in the region over the last few years also contributed toward the growth of the North American PVDF membrane market. On the other hand, in the forthcoming years, the demand for these membranes will soar in Asia-Pacific (APAC), as per the estimates of the market research company, PS Intelligence. This will be because of the surging requirement for membrane separation technologies in the water treatment industry in the region.

Hence, it can be said with confidence that the demand for PVDF membranes will shoot up in the coming years, due to the rising requirement for advanced membrane separation technologies in the food and beverage and water treatment industries for removing impurities.