Objective
Membranes are applied in many industrial processes and their performance has significant energetic and economic impact. Improving this performance is therefore crucial to meet sustainability goals. Traditional synthetic membranes face a critical trade-off between permeability (speed of separation) and selectivity (precision of separation) which limits their capabilities. Biological membranes, instead, achieve both high selectivity and permeability through the combination of a molecularly thin barrier and specialized transport proteins, yet are too fragile and small for industrial use. Several efforts have been paid to mimic the design of cellular membranes, but the results lack of either scalability or performance.
The CHIMERA project merges the best features of biological and synthetic membranes in a groundbreaking approach to high-performance biomimetic membranes. The innovative design of CHIMERA membranes integrates barrier and transport functionalities in the same molecular building block. Since transporters and membrane-forming moieties are connected but distinct, the barrier and transport functions of the resulting membranes are at the same time coupled (like in synthetic membranes) and decoupled (as in biological membranes). The synergy between barrier and transport functionalities introduced by this innovative design will enable the production of large-area membranes that remain molecularly thin and incorporate many transport units, leading to separation performance approaching that of biological membranes. This general approach is elaborated into three complementary strategies that target the realization of proof-of-concept charge selective, ion selective and isoporous CHIMERA membranes. These membranes will be scalable, cost-effective, and could greatly enhance the efficiency of energy-intensive separation processes, potentially offering both economic and environmental benefits.
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: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been validated by the project's team.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been validated by the project's team.
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
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.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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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.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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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-2025-STG
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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.
3000 LEUVEN
Belgium
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.