DMREF: GOALI: Salt Separation Membranes Based on Modifiable Two-Dimensional Covalent Organic Frameworks

该奖项全部或部分由2021年美国救援计划法案（公法117-2）资助。非技术性总结由于气候条件变化，降雨模式变化和人口增加，全球标准操作的中断将继续对世界淡水供应造成压力。预计到2030年，这将导致一半人口面临淡水短缺。 由于地球上只有约3%的水适合人类消费，而海洋含有地球上97%的水，因此节能脱盐（盐分离）技术对于维持社会的生活质量至关重要。反渗透（RO）是目前最常用和最可靠的水脱盐方法;然而，需要提高工艺效率，使其成为更可持续的处理选择。这些改进集中在膜材料和膜组件的物理和化学特性上，以解决与盐选择性、水渗透性和化学耐受性相关的问题。该项目将生产新一代的膜材料，可能比目前的RO膜更稳定，选择性和节能。此外，这些材料和系统有可能被修改为其他水净化应用，如去除特定的contamination.Technical总结新的膜材料将基于二维共价有机框架（2D-COFs），2D聚合物具有明确的，但可修改的孔结构，它可以以高度的秩序合成。此外，这项工作将开发合成策略，将各种各样的官能团放在孔中。材料的2D片状性质使其自然适合于半透膜应用。该项目的重点将是在孔隙中放置带电官能团，并改变孔隙大小，以制造离子选择性膜，从而拒绝具有特定尺寸阈值的阴离子或阳离子。与该项目相关的跨学科团队由合成有机化学家，电化学/材料科学家，膜工程专家和计算科学家组成。因此，该项目将在膜的有机合成、膜性能测试、计算建模和机器学习之间使用反馈回路，以指导新膜材料的合成，并优化其在特定分离中的性能。当这与工业合作伙伴的投入和行动相结合时，该项目将采用材料基因组计划（MGI）的方法进行研究，以加速材料的发现和部署。该奖项反映了NSF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。

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2).NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARYThe global disruptions to standard operations that are occurring due to changing climate conditions, changing rainfall patterns, and increased human population will continue to stress the world’s freshwater supplies. This is predicted to result in half of the population facing freshwater shortages by 2030. Because only about 3% of all water on Earth is suitable for human consumption and the oceans contain 97% of the Earth’s water, energy-efficient desalinization (salt separation) technologies are crucial for maintaining society’s quality of life. Reverse osmosis (RO) is currently the most employed and reliable method for water desalinization; however, improvements in process efficiency are needed to make it a more sustainable treatment option. These improvements center on the physical and chemical characteristics of the membrane materials and membrane modules to address issues related to salt selectivity, water permeability, and chemical tolerance. This project will produce new generations of membrane materials that could possibly be more stable, selective, and energy-efficient than current RO membranes. Moreover, these materials and systems have the potential to be modified for other water purification applications such as the removal of specific contaminants.TECHNICAL SUMMARYThe new membrane materials will be based on two-dimensional covalent organic frameworks (2D-COFs), 2D polymers with a defined but modifiable pore structure, which can be synthesized with a high degree of order. Furthermore, the effort will develop synthetic strategies for putting a wide variety of functional groups in the pores. The 2D flake-like nature of the materials make them naturally suited for semipermeable membrane applications. The focus of the project will be on placing charged functional groups in the pores and changing the pore sizes to make ion-selective membranes that reject either anions or cations with a specific size threshold. The interdisciplinary team associated with this project consists of a synthetic organic chemist, an electrochemist/materials scientist, a membrane engineering specialist, and a computational scientist. Thus, the project will use a feedback loop between the organic synthesis of the membrane, membrane performance testing, and computational modeling and machine learning to guide the syntheses of the new membrane materials and optimize their performance for a particular separation. When this is combined with the input and actions of the industrial partner on the effort, this project will take a Materials Genome Initiative (MGI) approach to research such that materials discovery and deployment is accelerated.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.