Gas-switchable and reusable cellulose nanocrystal membrane for active nanofiltration and ultrafiltration

在这个项目中，我们的目标是开发一种用于自清洁滤膜的气体响应材料。市场上的膜在很短的时间内就会被污染，需要用通常是刺激性和有毒的化学物质来清洗，这些化学物质价格昂贵，对环境和设备有害。在我们的研究中，我们开发了一种使用气体可切换膜的技术，这种膜表面和孔内的污染物可以通过向溶液中注入气体来清除。使用的气体(二氧化碳和氮气)价格便宜，可获得的数量多，而且清洁。我们建议的项目包括三个部分：1)小规模测试(对工业伙伴的样品进行过滤测试，化学反应和聚合物反应，以及膜制造)；2)半放大(反应的放大和大规模的片状膜制造)；3)与膜制造商的放大。气体清洗膜的高性能使其成为一种很有前途的产品，可以与市场上的传统膜竞争。这项新技术不仅可以缓解废水处理的性能，还可以降低设备维护和洗涤化学品的高昂成本。最后，从木材中提取的纤维素纳米晶是一种清洁的生物相容性化合物，可以生产出薄膜。

In this project, we aim to develop a gas-responsive material for self-cleanable filtration membranes. The membranes in the market get fouled in a short time and need to be cleaned by often harsh and toxic chemicals that are expensive and harmful to the environment and the equipment. In our research, we develop a technology using gas-switchable membranes whose contaminations on surface and inside the pores can be cleaned by gases injected into the solution. The used gases (CO2 and N2) are cheap, plenty available and clean. Our proposed project includes three parts: 1) small-scale tests (the filtration tests of the industrial partners' samples, chemical and polymeric reactions, and membrane manufacturing); 2) semi-scale up (reactions' scale-up and sheet membrane manufacturing in a large scale), and 3) scale-up with a membrane manufacturer. The highperformance in clean cleaning of the membranes by gases makes them a promising product to compete with the conventional membranes in the market. This new technology will not only ease the performance of wastewater treatment but also reduce the high cost of equipment's maintenance and washing chemicals. Finally, the membranes are produced by cellulose nanocrystals extracted from woods which is a clean and biocompatible compound.