Sustainable and Advanced Membranes By Aqueous Phase Separation

Project Information

SAMBA

Grant agreement ID: 714744

DOI

10.3030/714744

Project closed

EC signature date 11 October 2016

Start date 1 January 2017

End date 31 December 2021

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)

Total cost

€ 1 500 000,00

EU contribution

€ 1 500 000,00

Coordinated by

UNIVERSITEIT TWENTE
Netherlands

Periodic Reporting for period 4 - SAMBA (Sustainable and Advanced Membranes By Aqueous Phase Separation)

Reporting period: 2021-07-01 to 2021-12-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

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). This project investigates a highly novel approach allowing the production of the next generation of advanced membranes without the need to use any organic solvents. Here, the complexation of positively and negatively charged polyelectrolytes will be the basis for a new method for the fabrication of membranes, requiring only water as a solvent. The charged nature of these starting materials will make these membranes especially promising as the next generation of Nanofiltration (NF), Electrodialysis (ED), and Solvent Resistant Nanofiltration (SNRF) membranes. Finally, blending the polyelectrolytes with active ingredients can provide the membrane with advanced properties (anti-fouling, ion-specific, catalytic etc.). Concrete objectives or the SAMBA project are the successful development of this sustainable approach to membrane production and a demonstration that these membranes can be used in relevant membrane processes, including oily waste water treatment, protein concentration and micro-pollutant removal.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Non-solvent induced phase separation (NIPS) is by far the most commonly used technique to produce polymeric membranes. Unfortunately, the NIPS process relies heavily on aprotic organic solvents, typically N-methyl-pyrrolidone (NMP). These solvents are unsustainable and repro-toxic for humans, and are therefore subjected to restrictions within the European Union. We have now demonstrated a new and sustainable method for membrane production, Aqueous Phase Separation (APS), which eliminates the use of organic solvents and instead uses water for membrane fabrication. This leads to excellent examples of membranes, relevant to current applications. We have now shown that we can prepare a microfiltration membranes that successfully treats oily waste water treatment, an ultrafiltration membrane that allows protein concentration and a dense nanofiltration membrane that successfully allows the removal of micro-pollutants from drinking water. This new APS strategy has the potential to allow much needed sustainable membrane production, with excellent control over membrane properties, even allowing new types of separation properties through the use of new membrane materials. Moreover we have now shown that this can also be achieved using a single responsive polyelectrolyte, leading to unique responsive membranes, again without the need for organic solvents.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

We have developed two new approaches to membrane fabrication that allow the production of many different membranes without requiring organic solvents. The membranes have unique separation properties that will allow new membrane processes. An especially unqique outcome was the development of a new asymmetric polyelectrolyte multilayer membrane that allows removal of small organic molecules without removing salts Such a membrane has never been made before, but the properties are highly desireable.

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