Molecular Builders: Constructing Nanoporous Materials

与加工业相关的资本和运营成本中，有一半以上是用于分离的。这是因为分离通常是通过沸腾液体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的能量，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相中进行分离。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小于蒸发液体所需能量的5%。本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膜的全新制造方法。现在，我们通过混合，倾倒和平滑聚合物和陶瓷的解决方案来制造它们。这会造成浪费，而且很难精确控制。在未来，我们希望通过组装小单元，并通过创建明确的分子结构，我们知道分子的位置，一点一点地制造膜。我们将通过学习材料工程和化学的新技术来实现这一目标，并将其用于制造膜。为了实现这一宏伟目标，我们打算向世界各地的专家学习所需的技术。然后，我们将把它们放在一起，专注于制造分离用的膜和过滤器。然后，我们将在现有膜目前不可行的广泛应用中使用这些膜。在平台资助更新期间，我们将彻底改变膜制造工艺。我们将寻求制造复合材料，该复合材料包括由分子限定的分离层涂覆的受控孔隙率载体。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，用于以可控的方式制造3D材料。然后，我们将在这些可控孔隙率的支撑膜上涂覆分子定义的分离层，其中分子结构可以被操纵。最后，我们将开发成像技术来观察我们在纳米尺度上制造的结构。我们将利用这种膜来解决现有膜无法解决的分离问题，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工业产生的含盐和受污染的进料中回收水。为了成功实现这一雄心勃勃的目标，我们需要在各种技术方面培训我们的博士后研究团队，其中大部分我们目前都没有使用。我们将与世界各地的其他研究团队合作，他们是我们想要学习的技术专家。通过计划的研究计划，我们的博士后团队将在与他们以前工作过的领域几乎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业绩记录。重要的是，平台赠款将使我们能够保留宝贵的知识和专业知识在我们的集团。这将提供必要的连续性，以保持国际领先地位，并为博士后建立他们的专业知识和多学科的前景，通过计划收购新的技能。新技术的综合，以及它们与我们现有技能的结合，将导致世界领先的新科学和工程，以及在英国制造的新产品。

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.