PFI:AIR - TT: Large Area Fabrication of Next Generation Nanofiltration Membranes With Aligned and Stimuli Responsive Nanopores

这个PFI: AIR技术翻译项目的重点是翻译聚合物定向自组装的最新进展，以满足对性能改进的超滤（UF）和纳滤（NF）膜的需求。超滤膜和纳滤膜用于各种商业应用。UF广泛应用于食品和生物加工，例如奶酪加工中的过滤和牛奶中的病原体去除。纳滤膜用于去除有机污染物以净化工业废水，例如在纺织和造纸中。纳滤也用于家庭用水点的水净化，以软化水。超滤和纳滤也被用于微电子工业中制备高质量水的颗粒材料的去除。改进的超滤膜和纳滤膜有望对上述应用产生积极影响。该项目特别关注微电子工业的过滤，并将开发可扩展的制造方法，原型膜，并为该应用提供关键的膜性能数据。与目前的NF膜相比，该项目针对的新型自组装NF膜和UF膜将具有更窄的孔径分布和更小的扭曲度。与现有的NF膜相比，它们有望提供更高的选择性，从而提高微电子过滤等关键应用的分离效率。该项目解决了从研究发现到商业应用必须克服的可扩展制造技术差距。将采取两种不同的办法。第一个是利用物理约束来垂直排列由自组装小分子交联而成的膜上的纳米孔。第二种方法是利用磁场，特别是低强度磁场，垂直排列自组装的聚合物纳米结构。这些纳米结构随后被蚀刻，产生的孔用于过滤。在这两种情况下，一个至关重要的方面是需要开发加工方法，使制造合适的微孔膜用于膜的机械支撑。该项目将Pall公司作为工业合作伙伴，在整个翻译工作中提供与应用程序相关的测试数据和对商业机会的反馈。参与该项目的研究生将通过与工业伙伴的合作以及与大学技术转让办公室的职业发展活动，获得技术翻译和创业经验。

This PFI: AIR Technology Translation project focuses on translating recent advances in directed self-assembly of polymers to fill the need for improved performance ultrafiltration (UF) and nanofiltration (NF) membranes. UF and NF membranes are used in a variety of commercial applications. UF is widely employed in food and bioprocessing, for filtration in cheese processing, and pathogen removal from milk, for example. NF membranes are deployed in the removal of organic contaminants for purification of industrially produced wastewaters, for example in textile and paper-making. NF is also employed in point-of-use water purification in households for water softening. Both UF and NF are also employed for the removal of particulate materials in the preparation of high quality water in the microelectronics industry. Improved UF and NF membranes are expected to have positive impacts on the aforementioned applications. This project is focused specifically on filtration for the microelectronics industry and will result in the development of scalable manufacturing methods, prototype membranes, and the provision of critical membrane performance data for this application. The new self-assembled NF and UF membranes targeted in this project will feature a narrower distribution of pore sizes and reduced tortuosity relative to current state of the art NF membranes. They are expected to provide greater selectivity, and therefore improved separation efficiency in critical applications such as microelectronics filtration, relative to the existing state of the art NF membranes. This project addresses the scalable fabrication technology gap that must be overcome to translate from research discovery toward commercial application. Two distinct approaches will be pursued. The first is centered on the use of physical confinement to vertically align nanopores in membranes derived by crosslinking self-assembled small molecules. The second is based on the use of magnetic fields, and in particular, low intensity magnetic fields, to vertically align self-assembled polymer nanostructures. These nanostructures are thereafter etched and the resulting pores are used for filtration. In both cases, a critically important aspect is the need to develop processing methods that enable fabrication on appropriate microporous films for mechanical support of the membranes. The project engages Pall Corporation as an industrial partner to provide application-relevant test data and feedback on commercial opportunities in the overall translation effort. Graduate students involved with this project will receive technology translation and entrepreneurship experiences through collaboration with the industrial partner and participation in career development activities with university technology transfer offices.