SNM: Scalable Manufacturing of Nanostructured Membranes for Fracking Wastewater Treatment

CBET-1449337 Lee，宾夕法尼亚大学该项目的目标是实现用于水力压裂废水处理的纳米结构膜的大规模、低成本制造。水力压裂废水含有异常高浓度的油性组分和重金属离子，使得使用传统的膜技术非常困难。纳米结构膜的进展为克服这些问题提供了独特的机会，但目前大多数生成纳米结构膜的方法仅适用于实验室规模的生产，该项目将探索可扩展的制造方法。纳米制造方法将使用含颗粒悬浮液的卷对卷狭缝涂布（R2 RSC）和使用卷对卷纳米压印光刻（R2 RNIL）的薄膜复合材料（TFC）膜的纳米压印。在这项研究中制造的纳米结构膜将有效地去除油性污染物和重金属离子，而不会失去其功效。除了水力压裂废水处理，提供清洁水是美国国家工程院确定的一项重大挑战。处理压裂废水中杂质分布的膜将广泛用于饮用水净化。该项目将提供实习研究机会，本科生和高中生从不同的背景，通过现有的外展计划，如在宾夕法尼亚大学和明尼苏达大学的美洲原住民本科奖学金计划在工程推进妇女。该项目将 也有助于 课程 创新 的 将基于纳米结构膜的分离纳入PI教授的课程中。该项目还将大大受益于与行业和国家实验室合作伙伴的密切合作。 该项目的一个重要技术挑战是分离出提供高效纳米结构膜的关键特征，这些纳米结构膜将独特地实现天然气生产中水力压裂水的再利用和回收。PI建议使用纳米结构的双疏膜（重力驱动的油+水分离），（NAM）具有防污性能的纳米印迹膜（NIM）和具有增强的选择性和渗透性的纳米复合膜（NCOM）的组合。该提案的智力价值在于与这些膜的规模化制造相关的科学。为此，提出了四个具体的方向：-理解使用R2 RSC在多孔表面上选择性沉积NP以制造用于有效油/水分离的纳米结构的两疏性膜的基本物理; -理解R2 RNIL的加工-结构关系以制造具有抗污染和抗结垢特性的纳米印迹膜。将进行实验和流体动力学建模以设计使膜表面的结垢最小化的纳米粒子; -了解导致在R2 RSC中形成聚合物/NP双层的关键参数，并了解聚合物随后粘附到NP的粘附网络中。聚合物的吸附动力学和纳米复合膜的结构将被研究;和，-为了测试纳米结构膜的分离性能。压裂废水将分三个阶段进行处理，包括使用纳米结构双疏膜进行重力驱动的油/水分离，使用纳米印迹膜去除溶解的有机物和细颗粒，以及基于纳米复合膜的重金属离子去除。

CBET-1449337Lee, Univ of PennsylvaniaThe goal of this project is to enable the large scale, low-cost manufacturing of nanostructured membranes for fracking wastewater treatment. Fracking wastewater contains unusually high concentrations of both oily components and heavy metal ions, making it extremely difficult to use the conventional membrane technology. Advances in nanostructured membranes present unique opportunities to overcome these issues, but most current methods to generate nanostructured membranes are suitable only for lab-scale production, and this project will explore scalable approaches for manufacturing. The nano-manufacturing approach will be to use roll-to-roll slot coating (R2RSC) of particle-containing suspensions and nanoimprinting of thin film composite (TFC) membranes using roll-to-roll nanoimprinting lithography (R2RNIL). Nanostructured membranes to be manufactured in this study will efficiently remove oily contaminants and heavy metal ions without losing their efficacy. In addition to fracking wastewater treatment, providing access to clean water is a Grand Challenge identified by the National Academy of Engineering. Membranes that handle the impurity profiles in fracking wastewater will be widely useful for potable water purification. The project will provide internship research opportunities to undergraduate and high school students from diverse background through existing outreach programs such as Advancing Women in Engineering at University of Pennsylvania and Native American Undergraduate Fellowship program at University of Minnesota. The project will also contribute to curriculum innovations that incorporate nanostructured membrane-based separations into courses that are taught by the PIs. The project will also significantly benefit from strong collaborations with partners in industry and national laboratory. An important technical challenge in the project is to isolate the key features that provide for high-efficiency nanostructured membranes that will uniquely enable the reuse and reclamation of fracking water in natural gas production. The PIs propose using a combination of nanostructured amphiphobic membranes (gravity driven oil + water separation) , (NAM) nano imprinted membranes (NIM) with anti-fouling properties, and nanocomposite membranes (NCOM) that have enhanced selectivity and permeability. The intellectual merit of the proposal lies with the science associated with the scale up of the manufacturing of these membranes. Toward this end, four specific directions are proposed: - To understand the fundamental physics of selective deposition of NPs on porous surfaces using R2RSC to manufacture nanostructured amphiphobic membranes for efficient oil/water separation; - To understand processing-structure relationship of R2RNIL to manufacture nanoimprinted membranes with anti-fouling and anti- scaling properties. Experiments and hydrodynamic modeling to design nanopatterns that minimize fouling of membrane surface will be performed; - To understand the critical parameters that lead to the formation of polymer/NP bilayer in R2RSC and to understand the subsequent nanowicking of polymer into the percolating network of NPs. The dynamics of polymer nanowicking and the structure of nanocomposite membranes will be investigated; and, - To test the separation performance of nanostructured membranes. Fracking wastewater will be treated in three stages involving gravity-driven oil/water separation using nanostructured amphiphobic membranes, dissolved organic matter and fine particle removal using nanoimprinted membranes, and nanocomposite membranes-based heavy metal ion removal.