Project description
A new way to purify water
Our surface and drinking water face a growing threat from organic micro-pollutants (OMPs) originating from industrial, agricultural, and pharmaceutical residues. Current membrane technologies, like reverse osmosis, struggle due to energy intensity and problematic brine waste streams. With this in mind, the ERC-funded MOSAIC project aims to reduce salt retention. Specifically, it will construct charge-mosaic membranes with small, oppositely charged patches. Using a scalable approach with polyelectrolyte multilayers, these membranes boast over 99 % retention of OMPs and high-water permeability. Not only does MOSAIC promise effective water purification, but it also offers fundamental insights into membrane mass transport for a sustainable water future.
Objective
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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Fields of science
- 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
Keywords
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC GrantsHost institution
7522 NB Enschede
Netherlands