Objective
Membranes play a critical role in the production of safe drinking water and in the treatment of human waste streams. However, membranes themselves are nearly always produced using costly, harmful and environmentally unfriendly aprotic solvents such as N-methyl-pyrrolidone (NMP), dimethylformamide (DMF), or dimethylacetamide (DMAC). This proposal describes a highly novel approach allowing the production of the next generation of advanced membranes without the need to use any organic solvents. Here we make use of so-called responsive polymers that can switch under aqueous conditions from a hydrophilic to a hydrophobic state by a simple change of, for example, pH. In the hydrophilic state, water dissolves the polymers and the so obtained solution can be cast as a thin film. Sudden immersion in a bath at a pH where the polymer becomes hydrophobic, leads to very sudden phase separation whereby the polymer coagulates into a porous film, a membrane. Control over the kinetics of this aqueous phase separation process allows for the fabrication of a large variety of porous structures. Furthermore, this process also works for two oppositely charged polymers, where polyelectrolyte complexation is used to induce phase separation. Crosslinking will be a natural way to guarantee membrane stability but can also be used to further modify/improve membranes. The very nature of this aqueous phase separation process is such that membrane additives that are typically associated with advanced membranes (responsive polymers, enzymes, polyzwitterions, metallic nanoparticles) can readily be incorporated. As such, aqueous phase separation not only allows solvent free membrane production, it also provides a very simple and versatile route for the production of membranes with advanced properties. Finally, the porous structures and novel materials developed within this project could be directly useful for other applications, ranging from adsorption processes and coatings to biomedical materials.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
- engineering and technology environmental engineering water treatment processes drinking water treatment processes
- engineering and technology environmental engineering water treatment processes wastewater treatment processes
- natural sciences chemical sciences polymer sciences
- engineering and technology materials engineering coating and films
- engineering and technology nanotechnology nano-materials
You need to log in or register to use this function
We are sorry... an unexpected error occurred during execution.
You need to be authenticated. Your session might have expired.
Thank you for your feedback. You will soon receive an email to confirm the submission. If you have selected to be notified about the reporting status, you will also be contacted when the reporting status will change.
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
-
H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
See all projects funded under this programme
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
ERC-STG - Starting Grant
See all projects funded under this funding scheme
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2016-STG
See all projects funded under this callHost institution
Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
7522 NB Enschede
Netherlands
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.