Journal of Membrane Science 329 (2009) 1
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Journal of Membrane Science
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/memsci
Editorial
The passing of Sidney Loeb
Membrane science has a long and proud history, with truly
groundbreaking work by literally hundreds of outstanding scien-
tists and engineers. But, whenever I am asked about the founding
of the eld of membrane science, I immediately point to the work
done by Sidney Loeb and Srinivasa Sourirajan and their develop-
ment of the asymmetric or skinned membrane. Not only did this
work lead to the rst commercially viable desalination membranes,
the principle of the asymmetric membrane was the key conceptual
breakthrough that led to the development of todays multi-billion
dollar membrane industry. In many ways, Sidney Loeb was truly
the father of membrane technologyhis passing on December 12,
2008 is a great loss for the entire membrane community.
Sidney Loeb was born in Kansas City Missouri and grew up in
Chicago. He received his B.S. degree in chemical engineering from
the University of Illinois in 1941 and then worked for much of the
next two decades in the Los Angeles area in the elds of petro-
chemicals, rocket motors, and nuclear reactors. Sidney returned to
graduate school in the late 1950s and began working with Srini-
vasa Sourirajan in the lab of Professor Samuel Yuster at UCLA. Their
efforts with cellulose acetate lms ultimately led to the forma-
tion of an asymmetric (or anisotropic) membrane that had the
permeability and salt retention needed for desalination. Yuster
died in 1958 and Sourirajan left UCLA in 1961 to join the National
Research Council of Canada, while Sidney Loeb continued to work
at UCLA on reverse osmosis membranes and modules. Loebs efforts
led to the rst commercial desalination plant in Coalinga, Califor-
nia, producing 10,000 gallons of high-quality drinking water each
day.
0376-7388/$ see front matter 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.memsci.2008.12.036
Sidney moved to Beersheba, Israel in 1967 to work with the
Negev Institute for Arid Zone Research on the construction of a
150 cubic meter per day desalination plant at Yotvata. The Insti-
tute was ultimately incorporated into Ben Gurion University, and
Sidney joined the faculty in the Department of Chemical Engineer-
ing. Sidney continued to maintain an active interest in membrane
technology, receiving one of the rst patents on the use of mem-
branes for pressure retarded osmosis in 1975. This technology has
continued to evolve and is now being evaluated for the production
of clean energy in several locations around the world where fresh
water and salt water come into contact.
I only met Sidney Loeb on a handful of occasions. But, I was
always impressed by his modesty, his humble demeanor, and his
deep commitment to using science and technology to improve the
quality of life around the world. I would like to invite you to provide
your own personal perspective/comments on Sidney Loebthese
can range from a few lines up to 500 words. We will collect these let-
ters and vignettes within a months time and publish them together
as a special editorial in an upcoming issue of the Journal to rec-
ognize Sidney Loeb and his groundbreaking contribution to the
founding of membrane science.
Andrew Zydney
Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802-4400,
United States
E-mail address: zydney@engr.psu.edu
Available online 27 December 2008