Direct printing of functionalised nanoscale polymeric membranes

化学分离对日常生活的几乎所有方面都至关重要，分离过程消耗了世界总能源使用量的10%-15%。据估计，高选择性的膜可以使这些过程的能效提高10倍，每年减少1亿吨二氧化碳排放和35亿GB的能源成本(美国能源部)。更有选择性的分离将有助于“最大限度地发挥英国工业从全球转向清洁增长的优势”，并将有助于向“低碳技术和资源的高效利用”过渡(HM Govt Clean Growth Strategy，2017)。在液体分离领域，如水过滤或制药生产，存在着重大的未解决的挑战，这些挑战可以通过更有选择性的膜工艺来解决。在水领域，很难去除浓度极低的离子和小分子，即所谓的微污染物(Cave Review，2008)。在制药生产中，高度选择性地分离与产品相关的杂质，如活性病毒和非活性病毒，这一需求尚未得到满足(英国政府2017年工业战略)。那些开发可持续的化学制造方法的人也需要新的分离方法，以便在原料生产过程中去除少量有效的抑制剂。因此，高价值产品的制造商将受益于更有选择性的膜所提供的更高的回收率。因此，该项目的目的是提高水过滤中膜的选择性和寿命。为了实现这一目标，制定了以下目标：第1年，膜制造：在油墨混合物中使用多孔剂印刷多孔结构。优化印刷纳米膜的油墨混合物。建立生产纳米膜的最佳印刷参数和程序。第2年，膜性能优化：使用横流过滤设备评估印刷膜的过滤性能。在油墨混合物和后续膜中进行内部功能化。从混合和压降方面优化模块设计。对印刷膜进行生命周期评估，并与可比的商业膜进行比较。第3年，工业应用的评估和评估：评估定制油墨混合物在真实世界条件和应用下的过滤性能。使用来自当地水务公司的水基质，例如：威塞克斯水、布里斯托尔水、西南水考虑模块设计以扩大生产规模。

Chemical separations are critical to almost all aspects of daily life, with separation processes consuming 10-15% of the world's total energy usage. It is estimated that highly selective membranes could make these processes 10-times more energy efficient, saving 100 million tonnes/year of carbon dioxide emissions and £3.5 billion in energy costs annually (US DoE). More selective separations will help to "maximise the advantages for UK industry from the global shift to clean growth" and will assist in the transition towards "low carbon technologies and the efficient use of resources" (HM Govt Clean Growth Strategy, 2017). In the area of liquid separations, such as water filtration or pharmaceutical production, there are significant unmet challenges which can be tackled by more selective membrane processes. In the water sector, there are difficulties in removal of ions and small molecules at very low concentrations, so called micropollutants (Cave Review, 2008). In pharmaceutical production, there is an unmet need for highly selective separation of product-related impurities, such as active from inactive viruses (HM Govt Industrial Strategy 2017). Novel separation approaches are also required by those developing sustainable approaches to chemical manufacture for removing small amounts of potent inhibitors during feedstock production. Manufacturers of high-value products would therefore benefit from higher recoveries offered by more selective membranes.The aim of this project therefore is to improve selectivity and longevity of membranes in water filtration. To achieve this, the following objectives are set:Year 1, membrane fabrication:Use porogens within ink mixtures to print porous structures.Optimise ink mixtures for printing of nanoscale membranes.Establish optimal printing parameters and procedures for production of nanoscale membranes.Year 2, optimisation of membrane performance:Evaluate filtration performance of printed membranes using crossflow filtration apparatus.Incorporate functionalisation into ink mixture and subsequent membranes.Optimise module design with respect to mixing and pressure drop.Perform a life cycle assessment of printed membranes and compare to comparable commercial membranes.Year 3, assessment and evaluation of industrial applications:Evaluate filtration performance of custom ink mixtures under real world conditions and applications.Using water matrices from local water utilities, e.g.: Wessex water, Bristol water, Southwest waterConsider module design for production scale up.