Development of 2D materials for water treatment

Project Description: Water scarcity is a significant challenge facing society. Advanced methods for water purification, such as ultrafiltration and microfiltration using reverse osmosis, have provided solutions in some parts of the world but have limited application due to high capital and operating costs. New high efficiency membranes with high sieving selectivity offer the potential to reduce both the footprint and operating costs of water treatment, thus enabling a new generation of water treatment technologies with much greater potential, including applications in the developing world. This project will focus on the development of new membranes with low energy cost, improved sieving selectivity and enhanced efficiency for water treatment with the application of state of the art 2D materials, such as graphene and its derivatives, molybdenum disulphide, boron nitride etc. During the project, membrane preparation methods and properties will be investigated, and a commercially viable method will be developed for membranes to be scaled up towards application level.
Project Aim: to evaluate the potential of new 2D materials as an alternative to advanced filtration membranes in creating the next generation of membranes for water-purification at low cost.
Objective 1: 2D Materials Synthesis and Evaluation: a few methods will be used and evaluated for 2D material synthesis, and the properties will be evaluated. Methods for 2D materials synthesis will be benchmarked for the next phase.

Objective 2: Lab scale water purification: the 2D materials will be coated on a variety of porous substrates and their use in salt desalination and salt sieving selection will be investigated. Key metrics such as their thermal stability, selectivity, permeability, operating pressure, fowling resistance etc. will be investigated. The membranes that significantly outperform existing technologies or bring other economic or commercial advantages will be selected and benchmarked for the next phase.

Objective 3: Scale-up of membranes towards commercial viability: the 2D membranes identified in Phase 2 will be further developed towards commercially viable production. The ability to scale up the preparation of the membranes using large-scale coating techniques including printing, vacuum deposition, and emulsion will be investigated using industrial laboratory facilities. The membranes that significantly outperform existing technologies, or bring other economic or commercial benefits, will be identified. Piloting of the new membranes will require a technology provider and end-user, and will be the focus of a follow-on funding application.