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Membrane development for sustainable separations

Project

Project Details

Program
Chemical Engineering
Field of Study
Chemistry or Chemical Engineering
Division
Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering

Project Description

The goal of this project is the development of multilayer polymeric membranes for liquid separation. The main target is the application in the pharmaceutical industry for the separation of complex mixtures of molecules with size smaller than 500 g/mol. The membranes are mainly prepared by interfacial polymerization as flat-sheet or hollow fibers.   The characterization methods are chromatography, electron microscopy, and performance tests mimicking operational conditions. There will be possibilities of scaling up the membranes with the best performance.


About the Researcher

Suzana Nunes
Professor, Environmental Science and Engineering
Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering Division

Affiliations

Education Profile

  • Postdoc and Humboldt Fellow, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany
  • Ph.D. Chemistry, University of Campinas, Brazil, 1985

Research Interests

Professor Nunes' research interests are new polymeric materials for membrane manufacture, characterization and application, particularly for nanofiltration, pervaporation and gas separation.

Selected Publications

  • S. P. Nunes, P. Z. Culfaz-Emecen, G. Z. Ramon, T. Visser, G. H. Koops, W. Jin, M. Ulbricht, Thinking the future of membranes: Perspectives for advanced and new membrane materials and manufacturing processes, J. Membr. Sci. 2020, 598, 117761.
  • T. Huang, B. A. Moosa, P. Hoang, J. Liu, S. Chisca, G. Zhang, M. Alyami, N. M. Kashab, S. P. Nunes, Molecularly-porous ultrathin membranes for highly selective organic solvent nanofiltration, Nature Comm 2020, 11, 5882.
  • J. Liu, S. Wang, T. Huang, P. Manchanda, E. Abou-Hamad, S. P. Nunes, Smart covalent organic networks (CONs) with ""on-off-on"" light-switchable pores for molecular separation, Sci. Adv. 2020, 6, eabb3188.
  • S. Wang, L.Yang, G. He, B. Shi, Y. Li, H. Wu, R. Zhang, S. Nunes, Z. Jiang, Two-dimensional nanochannel membranes for molecular and ionic separations, Chem. Soc. Rev. 2020, 49, 1071-1089.
  • M. D. Vincenzo, A. Tiraferri, V.-E. Musteata, S. Chisca, R. Sougrat. L. Huang, S. P. Nunes, M. Barboiu, Biomimetic artificial water channel membranes for enhanced desalination, Nature Nanotechnology 2021, 16, 190-196.

Desired Project Deliverables

Thin-film composite membranes for liquid separation

Recommended Student Background

Chemistry
Chemical Engineering

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3-6 months
Internship period
100+
Research Projects
3.5/4
Cumulative GPA
310
Interns a Year