The first period has contributed to advance in the objectives that identify the project, namely,
Gain a deeper and more clear understanding of the microscopic origin of thermodynamic driving
Develop flexible molecular and mesoscale computational methods for the simulation of thermodynamic driving
Investigate the microscopic mechanisms of Electro-/Diffusio-/Thermo- phoretic transport within the first nanometres of surfaces, in individual nanotubes made of carbon, boron- nitride and combination of both, as well as through 2D molecular sheets (graphene, h-BN)
Analyse the potential of new classes of nanomaterials (nanotubes made of carbon, boron- nitride and combination of both, as well as through 2D molecular sheets (graphene, h-BN)) for thermodynamic transport
Explore and quantify nanoscale thermodynamic driving to fabricate new phoretic functionalities (diodes, transistors...)
Application of new phoretic functionalities as alternative mechanism for transport and manipulation of binary mixtures and complex flows
Harvest phoretic transport in pre-screened nanomaterials to attain an industrially viable technology for osmotic power conversion
Target industrially scalable materials with cost competitiveness and suitable membrane proprieties
Analyze strategies to build membranes out of promising competitive materials at the level of nanopores
Characterize the performance of these new membranes with respect to energy conversion and desalination, and address specifically the new physical issues associated to scale-up of nano- fluidic transport
Exploit outcome of previous objective as a feasibility assessment for further up-scaling and industrial transfer
Use of thermodynamic driving forces to identify, analyse and control the behaviour of proteins and their nanoscale complexes
Understand the interplay between size, charge and hydrophobicity on the nanoscale and microscale concentration gradients in diffusiophoresis
Connect the phoretic mobility to the structure and sequence of proteins
Explore the use of phoretic effects in a new generation of analytical instrument in protein science
The results that we have obtained so far do fully confirm that the advent of nanofluidics has a key role to play in the domain of osmotic energy and water treatment. The multiscale approach, from the single nanopore to the membrane scales, has allowed us to identify new types of behaviors which could be scaled-up to macroscopic membranes. The new opportunities brought by nanofluidics in terms of the variety of nanoscale geometries and materials, combined with state-of-the- art experimental instrumentation, allows to fabricate and investigate fundamentally the transport in ever smaller channels, with ever more complex and rich behaviors.
Our first results described above do fully confirm the great potential of the phoretic transport at the nano-scale for the development of breakthrough technologies in the field of blue energy and/or desalination.
