Descripción del proyecto
Un nuevo método para depurar el agua
Los microcontaminantes orgánicos (MCO) procedentes de residuos industriales, agrícolas y farmacéuticos constituyen una amenaza cada vez mayor para las aguas superficiales y potables. Las tecnologías de membrana actuales, como la ósmosis inversa, tienen limitaciones debido a que requieren mucha energía y generan flujos de residuos de salmuera, que constituyen todo un problema. Teniendo esto en cuenta, el proyecto MOSAIC, financiado por el Consejo Europeo de Investigación, tiene por objeto reducir la retención de sal. Para ello, se crearán membranas de mosaico de carga con pequeños parches de carga opuesta. Utilizando un enfoque escalable con multicapas de polielectrolitos, estas membranas retienen hasta un 99 % de MCO y tienen una alta permeabilidad al agua. MOSAIC no solo promete una depuración eficaz del agua, sino que además ofrece conocimientos básicos sobre el transporte de masas por membrana en pro de un futuro sostenible del agua.
Objetivo
Our surface and drinking water sources are increasingly threatened by the presence of organic micropollutants (OMPs). OMPs are small molecules (100-1000 Da) that originate from industrial, agricultural and pharmaceutical residues, and can cause long-term harm to humans and ecosystems. While OMPs can be removed from water with existing membrane technologies (e.g. reverse osmosis), these methods have significant limitations: they are energy-intensive and lead to problematic brine waste streams, due to their low water and salt permeability.
In this project I aim to solve these limitations by building charge-mosaic membranes; membranes with small (nm2) oppositely charged patches that allow coupled passage of negative and positive ions. This design, aimed at reducing salt retention, was conceived over 90 years ago, but was never realized in a scalable manner due to its challenging design. Here, I propose a simple and fully scalable approach to achieve such membranes, using polyelectrolyte multilayers (PEMs) of oppositely charged polymers. I will build these charge-mosaic membranes using ultrathin, ultradense layers in an asymmetric PEM approach to achieve a very high (> 99%) retention of OMPs and a high water permeability.
Combined with state-of-the-art modelling, this project will also provide new fundamental insights into membrane mass transport. Moreover, the project will directly lead to membranes with unique separation properties, allowing the design of completely new processes to effectively remove OMPs from waste water and drinking water.
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Ámbito científico
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringwater treatment processesdrinking water treatment processes
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringwater treatment processeswastewater treatment processes
- engineering and technologychemical engineeringseparation technologiesdesalinationreverse osmosis
- natural scienceschemical sciencespolymer sciences
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesecologyecosystems
Palabras clave
Programa(s)
- HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme
Régimen de financiación
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC GrantsInstitución de acogida
7522 NB Enschede
Países Bajos