PIRE: U.S.-Ukraine-France- Russia Partnership: New Generation Synthetic Membranes: Nanotechnology for Drinking Water Safety

-这一国际研究和教育伙伴关系(PERE)奖与法国、俄罗斯和乌克兰建立了为期5年的国际研究和教育合作，重点是安全饮用水的膜技术。该项目连接了四个国家的七个机构：密歇根州立大学、杜克大学、L环境与地球科学研究中心(法国)、国家理工学院和国家应用科学研究所(法国)、国立大学基辅-莫伊拉学院(乌克兰)、门捷列夫化学技术大学(俄罗斯)和伏尔加格勒国立建筑与土木工程大学(俄罗斯)。水的膜处理是一个动态和关键的研究领域，历史上一直是一个国际范围的研究领域。该项目将通过两个主要研究项目来解决饮用水安全问题。首先，他们将集中于纳米材料使能膜技术的三个方面，即用于改进聚合物膜的纳米材料复合材料，纳米材料衍生的陶瓷膜，以及用于水质控制的低污染膜支撑的纳米颗粒传感器。第二个研究重点将涉及两个方面：膜污染、聚电解质膜涂层的再生，以及用于成本效益高的微咸水反渗透淡化的臭氧-超滤复合预处理系统。这项研究是由教师和学生组成的国际团队组织的。参与团队的学生将采取多种形式：1)每个美国研究生与至少一名外国博士生组成团队，这两人都是由美国和外国科学家共同提供建议的；2)在他们的研究生生涯中，每个美国研究生预计将在至少两个外国工作；3)美国本科生在俄罗斯完成一个学期的学习后，将在合作的俄罗斯实验室工作；4)美国高中生将在美国的一个实验室从事国际合作项目。国际教师团队将为新的美国课程提供意见，并将参加莱斯大学和密歇根州立大学的研讨会项目，从而为该项目的学生以及没有出国旅行的学生提供更国际化的课程。这一环境工程项目的结果可能会大大促进我们对水处理膜的理解，因此应该会有很大的社会效益。该项目还实现了将美国和欧洲/欧亚大陆的顶尖专家聚集在一起，在平等、互惠和互利的基础上，在共同利益和能力强的领域结合互补努力和能力的计划目标。

---This Partnership for International Research and Education (PIRE) award establishes a 5-year international research and education collaboration with France, Russia and Ukraine that is focused on membrane technology for safe drinking water. This project links seven institutions in four countries: Michigan State University, Duke University, Centre Europeen de Recherche et d'Enseignement des Geosciences de l'Environnement [(CEREGE), France], National Polytechnical Institute & National Institute for Applied Sciences [France], National University Kyiv-Mohyla Academy [Ukraine], Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology [Russia] and Volgograd State University of Architecture & Civil Engineering [Russia]. Membrane processing of water is a dynamic and critical area of research and one that has historically been international in scope. The project will address the issue of drinking water safety with two primary research thrusts. First, they will focus on three aspects of nanomaterial-enabling membrane technology, i.e., nanomaterial composites for improved polymeric membranes, nanomaterial-derived ceramic membranes, and low fouling membrane-supported nanoparticle sensors for water quality control. The second research thrust will address two aspects of membrane fouling, regeneration of polyelectrolyte membrane coatings, and hybrid ozonation-ultrafiltration pretreatment system for cost-effective reverse osmosis desalination of brackish surface waters. The research is organized in international teams of faculty and students. The student involvement in the teams will take various forms: 1) each U.S. graduate student is teamed with at least one foreign doctoral student, both of whom are co-advised by U.S. and foreign scientists; 2) over the course of their graduate career, each U.S. graduate student is expected to work in at least two foreign countries; 3) U.S. undergraduates will work in a partnering Russian lab after completing a semester of study abroad in Russia; 4) U. S. high school students will work in a U.S. lab on the international collaborative projects. The international teams of faculty will provide input for new U.S.-based courses and will participate in seminar programs at Rice University and Michigan State University, thus providing a more international curriculum both for students in the program, as well as for student who do not travel overseas.The results of this project in environmental engineering are likely to produce a substantial advance in our understanding of water treatment membranes and so should have substantial societal benefit. This project also fulfills the program objectives of bringing together leading experts in the U.S. and Europe/Eurasia to combine complementary efforts and capabilities in areas of strong mutual interest and competence on the basis of equality, reciprocity, and mutuality of benefit.