A Research Agenda for a New Era in Separations Science

分离是痕量化学分析中的重要活动，对化学、生物、医学、环境和相关科学至关重要。此外，分离过程在石油和天然气、化工、造纸、制药、水处理和回收工业中是必不可少的。在这些工业中，化学分离既昂贵又消耗大量能源。开发更有效的分离工艺可以减少能源使用，并对美国经济产生重大的经济效益。该奖项为美国国家科学院（NAS）的一项研究提供部分支持，该研究旨在为化学分离科学的基础研究制定议程。这项研究是由一个特设委员会进行的，该委员会拥有学术界和私营部门的各种专门知识。本研究对过去三十年来分离科学与工程领域的进展进行了全面概述，对该领域的现状进行了评估，并对未来的研究方向进行了展望。该研究主要集中在分子尺度上，具有跨学科的基础科学观点，这是分析化学和工业水平分离的共同之处。该研究将形成一份可公开获取的报告，概述下一个时代对基础分离研究的理解和创新的战略，影响化学分析、能源生产、废物管理、水处理、化学品制造、关键资源回收、采矿和造纸等领域的应用。预计该报告将促进涉及化学、物理、材料和工程的跨学科研究。该项目由化学、生物工程、环境和运输系统部门的分子分离项目和化学部门的特殊项目项目共同资助。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Separations are important activities in trace chemical analysis, which is central to the chemical, biological, medical, environmental, and related sciences. In addition, separations processes are essential in the oil and gas, chemical, paper manufacturing, pharmaceutical, water treatment, and recycling industries. In these industries, chemical separations are expensive and consume large amounts of energy. Developing more efficient separation processes could reduce energy usage and have significant economic benefits to the U.S. economy. This award provides partial support for a National Academies of Sciences (NAS) study to develop an agenda for fundamental research in chemical separations science. The study is being conducted by an ad hoc committee with a range of expertise across academe, and the private sector. This study provides a comprehensive overview of advances made over the last three decades in the field of separation science and engineering, an assessment of the state of the field today, and a vision for future research directions. The study is focused on a molecular scale, with a cross-disciplinary view of the fundamental science that is common to both analytical chemistry and industrial-level separations. The study will result in a publicly accessible report that outlines a strategy for the next era of understanding and innovation in fundamental separations research, impacting applications in chemical analysis, energy production, waste management, water treatment, chemical manufacturing, recovery of critical resources, mining, and paper production. It is anticipated that the report may facilitate transdisciplinary research involving chemistry, physics, materials, and engineering. This project is co-funded by the Molecular Separations Program in the Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental and Transport Systems, and the Special Projects Program in the Division of Chemistry.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.