(69b) Manufacturing Fit-for-Purpose Membranes from Nanostructured Polymers
AIChE Annual Meeting
2019
2019 AIChE Annual Meeting
Separations Division
Division Plenary: Gerhold and Kunesh Awards on Separations (Invited Talks)
Monday, November 11, 2019 - 8:25am to 8:50am
In
addition to the improved conservation and responsible management of existing
freshwater resources, the use of non-traditional sources of water (e.g., seawater and wastewater) is essential to supporting human life on earth. The
success of seawater desalination by reverse osmosis highlights the large role
membrane separations will play in using these non-traditional sources to help
society meet the demand for water. However, desalination processes are
inherently energy-intensive due to the need to overcome the large osmotic
pressures generated by saline sources. This energy demand has caused engineers
and scientists to consider the design of distributed wastewater treatment
systems that incorporate regenerative technologies to provide water at the quality level demanded by its intended
application. In this manner, the separation is tailored based on the chemical
composition of the source water with the end-use requirements in mind. This talk will discuss a versatile membrane platform
fabricated from self-assembled block polymer precursors that can help to enable
the fit-for-purpose water paradigm. Most
state-of-the-art membranes utilize a size-selective, steric exclusion mechanism
to filter dissolved solutes from solution. In this regard, self-assembled block
polymers are a promising platform for producing high-performance membranes because
large areas of membrane that contain a high density of well-defined nanoscale
pores can be readily produced using the self-assembly and non-solvent induced
phase separation (SNIPS) technique. Furthermore, the performance profile of the
block polymer membranes can be controlled through clever design of the
macromolecular precursors. The performance of these membranes is pushing the
limits of size-selective separation mechanisms, which is driving interest in
multifunctional membranes with deliberately-assigned pore wall chemistries. As
such, block polymer membranes with nanoscale pores lined by moieties that that
can be thoughtfully designed to effect selective separations through
affinity-based adsorption, electrostatic interactions, and catalytic conversion
of target solutes further demonstrate the promise of this platform. In one
example, the pore-lining groups are converted to coordinating groups that act as high capacity binding sites for
heavy metal ion adsorption. In another example, charge-patterned mosaic membranes, are prepared by
functionalizing the copolymer membrane precursors using ink-jet printing
devices. The well-defined counter-charged domains that cover the surface of the
charge mosaic membranes allow
dissolved salts to permeate more rapidly than water¾even
though water is three times smaller in size. Through these examples, we will demonstrate that membranes that are based on
self-assembled block polymer materials provide a scalable platform that can be
tailored to myriad separations for the purification
and conservation of fresh water resources.
addition to the improved conservation and responsible management of existing
freshwater resources, the use of non-traditional sources of water (e.g., seawater and wastewater) is essential to supporting human life on earth. The
success of seawater desalination by reverse osmosis highlights the large role
membrane separations will play in using these non-traditional sources to help
society meet the demand for water. However, desalination processes are
inherently energy-intensive due to the need to overcome the large osmotic
pressures generated by saline sources. This energy demand has caused engineers
and scientists to consider the design of distributed wastewater treatment
systems that incorporate regenerative technologies to provide water at the quality level demanded by its intended
application. In this manner, the separation is tailored based on the chemical
composition of the source water with the end-use requirements in mind. This talk will discuss a versatile membrane platform
fabricated from self-assembled block polymer precursors that can help to enable
the fit-for-purpose water paradigm. Most
state-of-the-art membranes utilize a size-selective, steric exclusion mechanism
to filter dissolved solutes from solution. In this regard, self-assembled block
polymers are a promising platform for producing high-performance membranes because
large areas of membrane that contain a high density of well-defined nanoscale
pores can be readily produced using the self-assembly and non-solvent induced
phase separation (SNIPS) technique. Furthermore, the performance profile of the
block polymer membranes can be controlled through clever design of the
macromolecular precursors. The performance of these membranes is pushing the
limits of size-selective separation mechanisms, which is driving interest in
multifunctional membranes with deliberately-assigned pore wall chemistries. As
such, block polymer membranes with nanoscale pores lined by moieties that that
can be thoughtfully designed to effect selective separations through
affinity-based adsorption, electrostatic interactions, and catalytic conversion
of target solutes further demonstrate the promise of this platform. In one
example, the pore-lining groups are converted to coordinating groups that act as high capacity binding sites for
heavy metal ion adsorption. In another example, charge-patterned mosaic membranes, are prepared by
functionalizing the copolymer membrane precursors using ink-jet printing
devices. The well-defined counter-charged domains that cover the surface of the
charge mosaic membranes allow
dissolved salts to permeate more rapidly than water¾even
though water is three times smaller in size. Through these examples, we will demonstrate that membranes that are based on
self-assembled block polymer materials provide a scalable platform that can be
tailored to myriad separations for the purification
and conservation of fresh water resources.