CAREER: Bioinspired Artificial Channel Water Treatment Membranes

1552571 Kumar这一职业计划的目标是利用首席研究员(PI)丰富的工业和学术经验，建立一个以水处理的生物启发膜为中心的综合研究、教育和推广计划。这项计划涉及粮食-能源-水的关系问题和解决方案。人工水通道是一类新型的有机合成通道，最近被PI证明具有与生物水通道或水通道蛋白及其目前合成的类似物碳纳米管相似的渗透特性。这一研究方法有可能成为膜处理水的游戏规则的改变者。本项目的技术目标是设计和合成一类基于多肽-柱状[5]芳烃通道的新型膜。所提出的工作的中心假设是：溶剂相容的通道将使实用的超渗透通道基膜的可扩展合成成为可能。该计划的科学研究目标是：1)使用模型多肽-柱状[5]芳烃通道，了解直径、疏水性和电荷等埃尺度孔属性对选择性和透水性的影响；2)探索多肽-柱状[5]芳烃通道与嵌段共聚物膜的相容性，并利用这些知识最大限度地填充通道；以及，3)关联多肽-柱状[5]芳烃嵌段共聚物膜的结构和传输性能。可调节的孔径将允许这些膜应用于水处理和再利用的关键领域，包括：1)饮用水处理，2)苦咸水和海水淡化，以及，3)废水再利用。膜技术的紧凑性将使其能够在分散处理以及密集城市地区的低占地集中处理中实施。总体而言，考虑到水资源面临的越来越大的压力，以及能源、食品和水业务的相互联系，拟议方案的成功可能会对食品-能源-水的关系产生重大影响。拟议的计划将利用生物启发膜及其与自然系统(如植物和人体)中的水运输的联系，让所有级别的不同学生(从K-12到研究生)参与多学科的研究和教育活动。拟议计划的三个具体教育目标是：1)通过第一年的研讨会和研究参与，为不同的多学科工科本科生(UGS)提供早期指导；2)评估四种在大学中常见的UG研究参与模式；以及3)扩大和多样化目前以水科学为基础的K-12夏令营，并评估其对参与者的影响。

1552571KumarThe goal of this CAREER program is to utilize the principal investigator's (PI's) diverse industrial and academic experience to build an integrated research, education ,and outreach program centered on bioinspired membranes for water treatment. This program is relevant to food-energy-water nexus problems and solutions. Artificial water channels, a new class of channels made using organic synthesis, were recently demonstrated by the PI to have permeability properties similar to biological water channels, or aquaporins, and their current synthetic analogs, carbon nanotubes. This research approach has the potential to be a "game changer" in membrane treatment of water.The technical goal of this project is to design and synthesize a new class of membranes based on peptide-appended pillar[5]arene channels. The central hypothesis of the proposed work is: Solvent compatible channels will enable the scalable synthesis of practical ultra-permeable channel-based membranes. The scientific research objectives of the program are: 1) Understand the effect of angstrom-scale pore properties of diameter, hydrophobicity, and charge, on selectivity and water permeability using model peptide-appended pillar[5]arene channels; 2) Explore the compatibility of peptide-appended pillar[5]arene channels with block copolymer membranes and use this knowledge to maximize channel packing; and, 3) Correlate the structure and transport properties of peptide-appended pillar[5]arene block copolymer membranes. The tunable pore size will allow application of these membranes across critical areas of water treatment and reuse including: 1) drinking water treatment, 2) brackish water and seawater desalination, and, 3) wastewater reuse. The compact nature of membrane technology will allow its implementation in decentralized treatment as well as in low footprint centralized treatment in dense urban areas. Overall, given the increasing pressure on water sources and the interconnectedness of energy, food, and water operations, success in the proposed program can have a significant impact on the food-energy-water nexus. The proposed program will utilize bioinspired membranes and their connection to water transport in natural systems, such as plants and the human body, to engage diverse students at all levels (K-12 though graduate) in multidisciplinary research and education activities. The three specific educational objectives of the proposed program are: 1) Provide early stage mentorship to a diverse multidisciplinary group of engineering undergraduates (UGs) through first year seminars and research engagement; 2) Evaluate four UG research engagement models common at universities; and 3) Expand and diversify a current water-science-based K-12 summer camp and assess its impact on participants.