SBIR Phase II: Ultra Permeable Carbon Nanotube Membranes for Forward Osmosis

SBIR II 期：用于正向渗透的超渗透碳纳米管膜

• 批准号: 1058572
• 负责人: Olgica Bakajin
• 金额: $ 49.97万
• 依托单位: Porifera inc.
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2011
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2011-04-01 至 2014-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1058572&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; II; Ultra; Permeable

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will take advantage of the unique properties of carbon-nanotube (CNT) pores to develop membranes that are specifically tailored for forward osmosis (FO) applications. FO processes have a number of advantages over evaporation and pressure-driven membrane processes: low energy cost, low mechanical stresses, and high product concentration. The main problem impeding the widespread use of FO remains the lack of robust optimized FO membranes. CNT membranes are ideal for FO applications as they offer improvements in all relevant membrane characteristics: (1) improved structural integrity; (2) high permeability; (3) robust chemical stability; and (4) low fouling propensity. Most importantly, CNT membranes can be fabricated with sufficient structural support in the active layer to operate with only minimal external reinforcement, which minimizes concentration polarization losses. This project builds on the fabrication and functionalization approaches developed in Phase I, and applies them on a larger scale to achieve the objective of developing membranes with fast flow and high selectivity at reasonable production costs. Performance of the membranes will be benchmarked using laboratory tests that simulate real-world applications. This project will deliver an innovative FO membrane platform that exhibits superior performance and stability in FO applications.The broader impact/commercial potential of this project will be to enable a variety of green technologies such as renewable power generation, wastewater reuse, and energy-efficient desalination. Although FO-based processes are extremely energy efficient, their commercial use has been hampered by the lack of high performance FO membranes. This project should produce two main outcomes. First, it would deliver a solid technical foundation for developing a novel FO membrane platform that would provide a superior commercial alternative to existing FO membrane architectures. Second, the performance advantages of the CNT membranes would open up several applications for commercial development.

这个小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第二阶段项目将利用碳纳米管（CNT）孔的独特特性开发专门针对正渗透（FO）应用的膜。 与蒸发和压力驱动膜工艺相比，FO工艺具有许多优点：低能量成本、低机械应力和高产物浓度。 阻碍FO广泛使用的主要问题仍然是缺乏稳健的优化FO膜。CNT膜是FO应用的理想选择，因为它们提供了所有相关膜特性的改进：（1）改进的结构完整性;（2）高渗透性;（3）稳健的化学稳定性;和（4）低结垢倾向。 最重要的是，CNT膜可以在活性层中制造有足够的结构支撑，以仅在最小的外部增强下操作，这使浓差极化损失最小化。 该项目建立在第一阶段开发的制造和功能化方法的基础上，并将其应用于更大规模，以实现以合理的生产成本开发具有快速流动和高选择性的膜的目标。膜的性能将使用模拟现实世界应用的实验室测试进行基准测试。 该项目将提供一个创新的FO膜平台，在FO应用中表现出上级性能和稳定性。该项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力将是实现各种绿色技术，如可再生能源发电，废水再利用和节能海水淡化。 尽管基于FO的工艺是非常节能的，但是由于缺乏高性能FO膜，它们的商业应用受到阻碍。 该项目应产生两个主要成果。 首先，它将为开发新的FO膜平台提供坚实的技术基础，该平台将提供现有FO膜结构的上级商业替代方案。 其次，CNT膜的性能优势将为商业开发开辟几个应用。