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.

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.

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.