Objective With less than 1 percent of drinkable water on Earth and growing pollution the demand for drinking water can only be met through the advanced separation and purification technology. Membrane-based filtration technologies are standard separation processes and are widely used in water treatment; however their performance is still severely limited due to their underperformance in terms of flux, selectivity, porosity, cleaning ability, and stability. Recent advancement in nanostructured membranes based on layered graphene construct enables a paradigm shift in the membrane development due to its almost zero resistance for water molecules and 100% rejection of other components. Recent reports suggest that an ideal membrane could be realized using graphene because of its atomic thickness, high mechanical strength, and chemical inertness. Although the graphene based membranes showed excellent separation performance; unfortunately their durability and stability is the biggest obstacle in realization of its full potential. We propose to develop suitably cross-linked ultrathin graphene oxide membranes with improved mechanical property and durability. Our approach is to combine the innovative membrane fabrication technologies and the science of graphene materials to realize high-permeable and durable graphene membranes for water treatment purposes. This project will develop cross-linked graphene membranes by covalent crosslinking to obtain: I) high stability and durability, II) retained or minimally affected water flux and rejection and III) last but not least, adding new properties such as anti(bio-)fouling in the membranes. Such novel crosslinking will be achieved by using low molecular weight functional molecules, oligomers, polymers and mussel inspired chemistry. By the research of this project, a set of new crosslinking methodologies and knowledge of preparing graphene oxide membranes and their real applications will be developed. Fields of science engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringwater treatment processesdrinking water treatment processesengineering and technologynanotechnologynano-materialstwo-dimensional nanostructuresgraphenenatural scienceschemical sciencespolymer sciencesnatural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesenvironmental sciencespollution Keywords Graphene Membranes Crosslinking Water filtration Separation Materials Chemistry 2D Materials Programme(s) H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Main Programme H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility Topic(s) MSCA-IF-2015-EF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF-EF) Call for proposal H2020-MSCA-IF-2015 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF) Coordinator THE UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER Net EU contribution € 195 454,80 Address Oxford road M13 9PL Manchester United Kingdom See on map Region North West (England) Greater Manchester Manchester Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Other funding € 0,00
