SBIR Phase I: Anti-Microbial Graphene Oxide Nanofiltration Membrane

这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力来自于设计可重复使用的纳滤膜平台用于废水处理的能力。用于水净化和再利用的高能效和有效的废水处理仍然是一个巨大的挑战，因为安全和可靠的方法往往是资本和能源密集型的。从废水中生产清洁水用于市政或工业再利用，需要去除各种有机和无机污染物，包括许多危险和有毒物质(如杀虫剂、重金属、药品等)。由于聚合物膜对各种水污染物的高污染倾向，能源成本甚至更高。防止污染和以低能耗实现高污染物截留率仍然是膜过滤在废水处理中面临的两个核心挑战。拟议的技术将通过使用防污表面化学物质来解决两个核心挑战。该膜的低能量要求、污染物截留和抗污染性能使其成为一种颠覆性的创新，可以很容易地渗透到市场上，提供了当前膜净化系统所缺乏的经济高效的解决方案。这项SBIR第一阶段项目建议开发一种利用表面化学修饰的纳滤技术，以创建一种用于去除农药的抗污染膜。美国每年在农药上的支出接近90亿美元，占世界农药市场的16%。在杀虫剂中最常见的25种有效成分中，76%是水溶性的，这导致土壤、地下水和附近的水体受到污染。该项目的目标是从水中去除常见的商业杀虫剂，同时研究抗污染膜表面的有利作用。膜的性能将通过错流过滤实验来考察，以确定截留率、稳定性和抗污染性能。我们的愿景是创造一种纳滤膜，在减少能源需求和污染的同时，具有广泛的污染物截留率。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project results from the ability to design a reusable nanofiltration membrane platform for wastewater treatment. Energy-efficient and effective wastewater treatment for water purification and reuse remains a tremendous challenge because safe and reliable approaches are often capital and energy intensive. The production of clean water from wastewater for municipal or industrial reuse requires the removal of a wide range of organic and inorganic contaminants, including many hazardous and toxic substances (e.g., pesticides, heavy metals, pharmaceuticals, etc.). Energy costs are driven even higher by the high fouling propensity of polymeric membranes with the wide array of water contaminants. Preventing fouling and enabling high contaminant rejection with low energy requirements remain the two core challenges of membrane filtration for wastewater treatment. The proposed technology will address the two core challenges through the use of an anti-fouling surface chemistry. The low energy requirements, contaminant rejection, and anti-fouling properties of the proposed membrane make it a disruptive innovation that can easily penetrate the market, providing a cost-effective solution that is lacking in current membrane purification systems.This SBIR Phase I project proposes to develop a nanofiltration technology utilizing surface chemistry modification for the creation of an anti-fouling membrane for the rejection of pesticides. The United States spends nearly $9 billion a year on pesticides, which account for 16% of the world pesticide market. Out of the 25 most common active ingredients in pesticides, 76% are water soluble, which leads to contaminated soil, groundwater, and nearby bodies of water. The objectives of this project are to remove common commercial pesticides from water while investigating the advantageous effects of an anti-fouling membrane surface. Performance of the membrane will be investigated through cross flow filtration experiments to identify rejection, stability, and anti-fouling properties. The vision is to create a nanofiltration membrane with a broad contaminant rejection while decreasing energy requirements and fouling.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.