Unlocking the Potential of MOFs as Membranes using Coupled Modeling and Experiments

0966582 Scholl化学和生物分离计划的NSF奖项支持在大规模化学分离膜中使用金属有机骨架材料作为活性组分的工作。膜可以在节能化学分离中发挥巨大作用，但传统的聚合物膜受到选择性和通量之间的权衡。该提议的前提是，金属有机框架（MOFs）作为大规模分离的膜具有巨大的前景，因为它们具有合理设计膜尺寸、形状和功能的潜力。目前几乎不知道MOFs作为膜的性能。同样重要的是，几乎不知道数千种MOF材料中的哪一种将是用于膜制造的生产性材料。然而，我们的初步建模工作和其他人的实验已经证明，MOFs可以制成膜，并且这些膜的性能可以在实际操作条件下预测。这一领域正处于快速增长的阶段，我们的合作团队有能力领导这一领域。该项目将结合计算建模和实验研究，开发基于MOFs的新型膜。该项目将为教育和培训创造许多值得注意的机会。研究工作将与佐治亚州Gwinnett县正在开发的创新高中课程联系起来。高度跨学科的方法将为各种学生创造学习机会：K-12，本科和博士水平在格鲁吉亚技术，包括通过SURE计划招募的代表性不足的群体的外部本科生。

0966582SchollThis NSF award by the Chemical and Biological Separations Program supports work to advance the use of metal-organic framework materials as the active components in membranes for large-scale chemical separations. Membranes can play an enormous role in energy-efficient chemical separations, but traditional polymeric membranes suffer from a trade-off between selectivity and throughput. The premise of this proposal is that metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have enormous promise as membranes for large-scale separations because of their potential for rational design of micropore size, shape, and functionality. Almost nothing is currently known about the performance of MOFs as membranes. Equally importantly, almost nothing is known regarding which of the thousands of MOF materials would be productive to pursue for membrane fabrication. Preliminary modeling work by us and experiments by others have demonstrated, however, that MOFs can be fabricated into membranes and that the performance of these membranes can be predicted under practical operating conditions. This field is poised for rapid growth, and our collaborative team is well positioned to lead this area. The proposed work will use a combination of computational modeling and experimental studies to develop new membranes based on MOFs.This project will create many noteworthy opportunities for education and training. The research efforts will be linked with an innovative high school curriculum being developed in Gwinnett County, GA. The highly interdisciplinary approach will create learning opportunities for a variety of students: K-12, undergraduate, and PhD-level at Georgia Tech, including external undergraduates from underrepresented groups recruited through the SURE program.