Molecular Builders: Constructing Nanoporous Materials

分离需要与加工工业相关的所有资本和运营成本的一半以上。这是因为分离通常是通过将液体煮沸使其变成气体来实现的。然而，将液体转化为气体需要注入大量能量，以克服液体分子之间的吸引力。避免这种大能量输入的一种方法是通过膜在液体中进行分离。这避免了蒸发或蒸馏的大量能量注入。理论计算表明，膜分离浓缩混合物所需的能量不到蒸发液体所需能量的5%。该项目是为了支持一个世界领先的研究小组研究开发用于分离的激进的新方法。现在，我们通过混合、浇注和平滑聚合物和陶瓷的溶液来制造它们。这会造成浪费，而且很难准确控制。在未来，我们希望通过组装小单元来一点点地制造薄膜，并通过创建定义良好的分子结构来知道分子的位置。我们将通过学习材料工程和化学的新技术来做到这一点，并将它们用于制造膜。为了实现这一雄心勃勃的目标，我们打算向世界各地的专家学习我们需要的技术。然后，我们将把它们整合在一起，专注于制造用于分离的膜和过滤器。然后，我们将在现有膜不可行的广泛应用中使用这些膜。在平台授权续期期间，我们将彻底改变膜的制造过程。我们将寻求制造包含可控孔隙率支撑体的复合材料，该支撑体由分子定义的隔离层包裹。这将需要研究新的方法来组装多孔聚合物和无机支撑膜，使用功能打印，这是一种快速发展的技术，可以在可控的方式下制造3D材料。然后，我们将在这些孔隙率可控的支撑膜上涂上分子定义的分离层，在这些分离层中可以操纵分子结构。最后，我们将开发成像技术来观察我们在纳米尺度上制作的结构。我们将使用膜来处理当前膜无法达到的分离问题，例如在连续运行的反应器中合成药物，生产治疗所需的DNA和RNA，以及从石油和天然气行业产生的含盐和受污染的饲料中回收水。为了实现这一雄心勃勃的目标，我们将需要培训我们的博士后研究团队掌握各种技术，其中大部分我们目前尚未采用。我们将通过与世界各地的其他研究团队合作来做到这一点，这些团队都是我们想要学习的技术方面的专家。通过一个有计划的研究计划，我们的博士后团队将在几乎与他们以前工作过的领域完全不同的领域获得宝贵的经验，使他们能够建立和扩大他们的记录。重要的是，平台赠款将使我们能够保留我们集团的宝贵知识和专业知识。这将为保持国际领先地位提供必要的连续性，并使博士后通过有计划地获得新技能来建立他们的专业知识和多学科前景。新技术的综合，以及它们与我们现有技能的结合，将带来世界一流的新科学和工程，以及英国制造的新产品。

Separations demand more than half of all the capital and operating costs associated with processing industries. This is because separation is often achieved by boiling liquids to make them turn into a gas. However, turning liquids into gases involves injecting a lot of energy, to overcome the attractive forces between the molecules of the liquid. One way of avoiding this large energy input is to carry out separations in the liquid phase via a membrane. This avoids the large energy injections of evaporation or distillation. Theoretical calculations show that the energy required for concentrating a mixture by membrane separation is less than 5% of the energy required to evaporate the liquid.This project is to support a world leading research group research develop radical new ways of making membranes for separations. Now, we make them through mixing, pouring and smoothing out solutions of polymers and ceramics. This creates waste and is hard to control accurately. In the future, we want to make membranes by bit by bit through assembly of small units, and by creating well defined molecular structures where we know the positions of the molecules. We will do this by learning new techniques in materials engineering and chemistry, and putting them to work making membranes. To achieve this ambitious goal, we intend to learn the techniques we need from experts around the world. We will then bring them all together and focus on making membranes and filters for separations. Then, we will use these membranes in a wide range of applications that are currently not feasible with existing membranes.For the platform grant renewal period, we will revolutionise the membrane fabrication process. We will seek to manufacture composite materials comprising a controlled porosity support, coated by a molecularly defined separating layer. This will require research into new ways to assemble porous polymer and inorganic support films, using functional printing, a rapidly developing technology for making 3D materials in a controlled way. We will then coat these controlled porosity support films with molecularly defined separating layers in which the molecular structure can be manipulated. Finally, we will develop imaging techniques to view the structures we have made at the nanometre scale. We will use the membranes to deal with separation problems that current membranes cannot reach, such as synthesis of pharmaceuticals in continuously operating reactors, production of DNA and RNA for therapeutic needs, and the recovery of water from salty and contaminated feeds generated in the oil and gas industry.To succeed in this ambitious goal we will need to train our post-doctoral research team in a diverse range of techniques, most of which we do not employ currently. We will do this by working with other research teams around the world who are experts in the techniques we want to learn. Through a planned programme of research our post-doctoral team will gain valuable experience in areas almost completely different from those they have previously worked in, enabling them to establish and broaden their track record. Importantly, the platform grant will enable us to retain valuable knowledge and expertise in our group. This will provide the continuity necessary to maintain an internationally leading position, and also for the post-docs to build their expertise and multidisciplinary outlook through the planned acquisition of new skills. The synthesis of the new techniques, and their combination with our existing skills, will lead to world beating new science and engineering, and new products manufactured in the UK.