Kidney-inspired membranes with superior anti-fouling and separation properties
Lead Research Organisation:
University College London
Department Name: Chemical Engineering
Abstract
Kidneys have remarkable filtration and anti-fouling properties. They are able to filter daily about 140 liters of urine from our blood, without notable clogging or fouling by proteins. Preliminary studies on the mechanisms underpinning this performance, both on the molecular and the system scale, suggest innovative designs for artificial membranes for water purification and bio-separations. This thesis will systematically explore this potential numerically and experimentally, using our unique, nature-inspired chemical engineering (NICE) methodology, to help us design and synthesise nature-inspired membranes that leverage these properties.
Organisations
Publications
Mohamed H
(2020)
Effects of charge and hydrophilicity on the anti-fouling properties of kidney-inspired, polyester membranes
in Molecular Systems Design & Engineering
| Description | Demonstrations for Inspire Summer School |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | The Inspire Summer School was run in collaboration with the Engineering Development Trust for thirty female A-Level students to provide them with an understanding of what chemical engineering is and what a career in chemical engineering might entail. Over the course of three days, they attended lectures about chemical engineering including talks by the Deputy Head of the department, and the CNIE's PhD student Halan who spoke about her journey into Chemical Engineering undergraduate and postgraduate studies at UCL. The students also participated in lab demonstrations within Nature-Inspired Chemical Engineering (NICE) with PhD students Nidhi Kapil and Halan Mohamed. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.natureinspiredengineering.org.uk/news/cnie-welcomes-the-inspire-summer-school |
| Description | EPSRC Grand Challenges Summit |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | The Global Grand Challenges Summit 2019 was the launch of a second series of summits jointly hosted by the UK Royal Academy of Engineering, the US National Academy of Engineering and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, inspired by the 14 Grand Challenges for Engineering. The Summit took place on 16-18 September 2019 in London, at the Southbank Centre's wonderful Queen Elizabeth Hall, with 900 of the next generation's engineers, researchers, innovators, entrepreneurs, and policymakers in attendance. EPSRC hosted an evening event as part of the Summit, entitled EPSRC Engineering Research for Grand Challenges, and will be showcasing a selection of their over £50 million investment into research which tackles the grand challenges facing our future. As part of the EPSRC's evening exhibition on Tuesday 17th September, CNIE staff and students had a display to showcase the EPSRC "Frontier Engineering" Centre for Nature Inspired Engineering (CNIE). The exhibition ran from 6.30pm to 9.30pm at the Royal Festival Hall, Weston Roof Pavilion. Halan Mohamed, Sasank Bethapudi, Nazanin Owji & Malica Schmidt all exhibited their work at the summit. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.raeng.org.uk/events/events-programme/2019/september/global-grand-challenges-2019-recepti... |
| Description | Hosting in2science student |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | We hosted an A Level student for two weeks and introduced her to the various research going on in the centre through lab demonstrations. The student was guided through writing a "review paper" on a topic of her interest. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Oral presentation at IChemE's ChemEngDay UK 2019 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Presented research findings at the annual IChemE ChemEngDay within the topic of Bioinspired Engineering. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Poster presentation at ECI Nature-inspired Engineering conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The first ECI Conference on Nature-Inspired Engineering brought together practitioners and researchers from academia, national laboratories and industry, with interest in nature-inspired solutions for engineering. Presented a poster with current research findings. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Poster presentation at IChemE's ChemEngDay |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | On 27-28 March, ChemEngDay UK 2018 hosted its annual conference, run by Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE), at the University of Leeds. This year's theme on 'Molecules to Manufacturing' welcomed leading UK Chemical Engineering academics, industrial partners and other guests through plenary speakers, talks and poster sessions. CNIE was represented by Halan Mohamed, who attended the conference to showcase their research alongside other UCL Chemical Engineering delegates. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Teacher placement lab demonstrations and filming |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | The Faculty of Engineering Sciences hosted teachers from surrounding schools to help guide science education in their respective schools. PhD students Halan Mohamed and Nidhi Kapil demonstrated how their science backgrounds have translated into their research. Filming took place to interview the teachers to highlight their experiences within the Faculty. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |