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. Our natural waterways and industrial wastewater are contaminated with pesticides, dyes, oil and nanoplastics, which also need to be separated out.

Nanofiltration is an emerging technology which allows the isolation and separation of solutes in water and organic solvents. The development of nanofiltration membranes stable in outdoors or harsh environments (e.g. polar aprotic solvents, extreme temperature, pressure and pH) is of utmost importance. Robust nanofiltration membranes will be fabricated exhibiting superior chemical stability and selectivity compared to commercial polymer membranes. Depending on the interests and background of the visiting student, the focus of the project will be fine-tuned towards polymer synthesis, pharmaceutical synthesis, membrane separations, materials fabrication or sustainability assessment.