SBIR Phase I: Ultra Permeable Carbon Nanotube Membranes for Forward Osmosis

这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目将利用纳米材料的独特性质，为渗透应用量身定做具有更高性能的膜。与蒸发和压力驱动的膜过程相比，基于渗透的工业过程具有许多优势，包括低能耗、低操作温度和压力以及高产品浓度。该项目旨在利用嵌入在聚合物基质中的碳纳米管组成的复合结构来合成一种新的膜。限制基于渗透技术的工业应用的主要因素是缺乏优化的膜。建议的纳米材料基膜独特的纳米流体特性将使其成为基于渗透的应用的理想选择，在膜性能的所有相关方面提供改进：1)改善结构完整性，2)高渗透性；3)化学稳定性，以及4)低污染倾向。该项目的更广泛的社会/商业影响将使在废水处理、工业分离、工业和紧急海水淡化以及能源生产领域的大量应用成为可能。以圣克鲁斯市规划中的海水淡化厂为例的分析表明，优化膜的可获得性为对渗透技术的商业使用产生重大影响创造了真正的机会。未来，在该项目过程中开发的基于纳米材料的膜可以在全球范围内部署以渗透为基础的应用，对这个每年26亿美元的市场产生可衡量的影响。将这些技术应用于净水和能源生产不仅可以带来商业影响，还可以产生巨大的社会影响，改善美国和世界各地的生活条件。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will take advantage of the unique properties of nanomaterials to develop membranes with improved performance tailored for osmosis applications. Osmosis-based industrial processes have a number of advantages over evaporation and pressure-driven membrane processes, including low energy use, low operating temperatures and pressures, and high product concentrations. The project aims to synthesize a new membrane using a composite structure consisting of carbon nanotubes embedded in a polymer matrix. The main factor limiting the industrial use of osmosis-based technologies is a lack of optimized membranes. The unique nanofluidic properties of the proposed nanomaterials-based membrane would make it ideal for osmosis-based applications, offering improvements in all relevant aspects of membrane performance: 1) improved structural integrity, 2) high permeability; 3) chemical stability, and 4) low propensity to foul.The broader societal/commercial impact of this project will be to enable numerous applications in the areas of wastewater treatment, industrial separations, industrial and emergency desalination, and energy generation. The analysis using the planned desalination plant at the city of Santa Cruz as an example demonstrates that the availability of optimized membranes creates real opportunities for making a strong impact on the commercial use of osmosis-based technologies. In the future the nanomaterials-based membranes developed over the course of this project could be deployed on a global scale for osmosis-based applications, making a measurable impact on this $2.6 billion annual market. Applications of these technologies to water purification and energy generation could provide not only commercial but high societal impact, improving the living conditions in the US and worldwide.