Development of a novel nano coating and 2D advanced material structure for ceramic membrane technology

在世界范围内，我们正面临着一场水危机，占全球人口四分之一的17个国家面临着极高的水压力。由于气候变化、人口增长、人口变化和城市化，对水的需求正在增加，水资源正在变得稀缺。为了实现联合国水可持续发展目标(SDG 6)，进展速度需要加倍。纳滤膜在生产安全饮用水中发挥着重要作用，能够以比反渗透更低的能源需求过滤掉几种微量有机化合物、重金属和污染物。纳滤膜的选择性和弹性是饮用水生产中的关键指标，因为它们直接关系到客户的风险，而水生产率和技术稳健性对水务公司很重要，因为它们定义了资本成本、资产寿命和维护频率。然而，聚合物纳滤膜被广泛使用，表面污染、清洗方法的限制、机械损坏和低膜透过率使其成为一种昂贵的解决方案，可能会使供水的弹性面临风险，使客户和运行水公用事业处于危险之中。与气候变化、人口增长和更严格的水质监管有关的原水中有机物水平的增加，也增加了纳滤对饮用水生产的压力。该项目旨在开发和测试一种2D先进的纳米材料涂层，以创建一种弹性更强、更可持续的陶瓷膜纳滤技术，以降低总拥有成本，用于低碳饮用水处理。它利用了Molymem Limited(曼彻斯特大学Spin Out，开发一种新型纳米材料涂层作为2D先进材料结构用于膜过滤)、Xtract Filtration Systems Limited的陶瓷过滤系统专家，以及克兰菲尔德大学水科学研究所水科学、工程和管理方面的学术专家的专业知识。先进的陶瓷纳滤技术将在防止/最大限度减少污染、缩短清洗周期、应对(温度和pH)波动的能力以及降低水处理的通量(跨介质的压力降)方面具有重要的USPS。在延长使用寿命、改善可持续性以及最重要的是为水务行业用户建立改进的总拥有成本模型方面，所有这些都是重要的因素。

Worldwide, we are facing a water crisis with 17 countries, home to 1/4 of the global population, facing extremely high water stress. Demand for water is increasing and water resources are becoming scarce as a result of climate change, population growth, demographic changes and urbanisation. To meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal for water (SDG 6), rate of progress needs to double.Nanofiltration membranes play an important role in the production of safe drinking water, with the ability to filter out several trace organic compounds, heavy metals and pollutants at a lower energy demand than reverse osmosis. Selectivity and resilience of nanofiltration membranes are critical metrics in drinking water production as they directly relate to customer risk, while water productivity and technology robustness are important to water utilities as they define capital cost, asset lifetime, and maintenance frequency.Polymeric nanofiltration membranes are widely used however, surface fouling, constraints on cleaning methods, mechanical breakage, and low membrane permeabilities make this an expensive solution, that can risk resilience in water supply putting customers and the operating water utility at risk. An increase in organics levels in raw water linked to climate change, population growth and tighter regulations on water quality, has also increased the strain on drinking water production by nanofiltration.This project seeks to develop and test a 2D advanced nanomaterial coating to create a resilient and more sustainable ceramic membrane nanofiltration technology for low-carbon drinking water treatment with a lower total cost of ownership. It leverages the expertise of Molymem Limited (University of Manchester spin out, developing a novel nanomaterial coating to be applied as a 2D advanced material structure for membrane filtration), specialists in ceramic filtration systems from Xtract Filtration Systems Limited, and academic experts in in the science, engineering and management of water at Cranfield University's Water Science Institute.The advanced ceramic nanofiltration technology will have major USPs in preventing/minimising fouling, decreasing the cleaning cycle, the ability to cope with fluctuations (temperature and pH) and lowering flux (pressure drop across the medium) for water treatment. All of these are important factors when it comes to increasing lifetime, improving sustainability and most importantly building an improved total cost of ownership model for users in the water industry.