STTR Phase I: High-flux nanoporous calcium-silicate membranes for high efficiency Carbon dioxide separation

小型企业技术转让第一阶段项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是成本效益高、环保的膜，通过降低能源消耗和膜成本，显著有利于化石燃料发电厂和气体分离技术。拟议的颠覆性技术直接影响到我们百年来的关键社会挑战之一，即通过分离和捕获二氧化碳来减少温室气体排放。该项目将有助于实现新的方法来制造新的低成本、高性能和耐用的膜，由于原料丰富和制造工艺容易，具有广泛的适用性。总的来说，该项目可以影响各种分离技术，如燃料电池氢气的分离和存储、水的淡化和过滤、生物分子和放射性废物的分离。这一阶段研究项目的技术目标是开发一种简单但具有破坏性的技术，以合成能够有效分离化石燃料发电厂二氧化碳气体分子的新型纳米多孔膜产品。核心技术依赖于耦合的尺寸排斥分离机制和基于亲和力的吸附来提供优异的性能。提出的新技术将缓解目前膜技术存在的挑战，如高温不稳定、低通量、高成本和制造困难。与现有技术相比，最终的膜产品可以被各种能源部门和工业气体使用，并将提供一种更节能、更耐用的低成本解决方案，并显示出出色的二氧化碳选择性。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Technology Transfer Phase I project is cost-effective, eco-friendly membranes that significantly benefit fossil-fuel power plants and gas separation technologies by reducing energy consumption and membrane cost. The proposed disruptive technology has a direct impact on one of our key centennial societal challenges, i.e. reducing greenhouse gas emissions by separating and capturing carbon dioxide. This project will help enable new approaches for manufacturing new cost-effective, high performance, and durable membranes with wide applicability due to the abundance of the raw materials and ease of manufacturing processes. Broadly, the project can impact various separation technologies such as separation and storage of hydrogen for fuel cells, water desalination and filtration, and separation of biomolecules and radioactive waste.The technical objective in this Phase I research project is developing a facile but disruptive technology to synthesize novel nanoporous membrane products capable of efficient separation of CO2 gas molecules from fossil-fuel power plants. The core technology relies on coupling size-exclusion separation mechanisms and affinity-based adsorption to provide superior performance. The proposed novel technology will mitigate the existing challenges in current membrane technologies such as high-temperature instability, low-flux, high-cost, and manufacturing difficulties. The final membrane product can be employed by various energy sectors and industrial gases and will provide a low-cost solution that is more energy-efficient, durable, and demonstrates exceptional CO2 selectivity, as compared to existing technologies.