Organic Solvent Nanofiltration
ApplyProject Description
Separation processes play a remarkable role in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries, where they account for 50 to 70% of both capital and operational costs. Organic synthesis in the chemical and pharmaceutical industry are frequently performed in organic solvents and consist of products with high added value that should be removed from the organic solvents. Organic solvent nanofiltration is an emerging technology which allows the isolation and separation of solutes between 50 and 2000 g/mol in organic solvents. The development of nanofiltration membranes stable in harsh environments (e.g. polar aprotic solvents, extreme temperature, pressure and pH) is of utmost importance. Solvent resistant nanofiltration membranes will be fabricated exhibiting superior chemical stability compared to commercial polymeric membranes. The concept of design of experiments (DoE) will be applied throughout the project to gain an in depth understanding parameters governing the membrane will be prepared and crosslinked using aromatic bifunctional crosslinkers. The membrane performance (i.e. flux, retention profile, solvent stability) will be evaluated using a nanofiltration rig.



About the
Researcher
Gyorgy Szekely
Assistant Professor, Chemical Engineering Physical Science and Engineering Division Center membership : Advanced Membranes and Porous Materials

Desired Project Deliverables
The student will acquire soft skills such as team working, project and time management, giving oral presentations. By the end of the traineeship the student will have a deep understanding of membrane separations, particularly in nanofiltration. Practical and theoretical aspects of surface modification techniques and polymer chemistry techniques will be acquired.