NTU-CEE Distinguished Seminar Series: Design and Synthesis of Polymer Membranes Based on Theoretical Principles
Moderator
Asst Prof. SHE Qianhong
About the Seminar
To optimize the filtration performance of synthetic polymer membranes, their internal microstructure needs to be designed and synthesized based on theoretical principles and not empirically, as is done at present, using phase inversion and interfacial polymerization.
Here we present a rational approach in which we develop an insilico tool to simulate separation of particles with different properties, and propose, test, and optimize novel microstructures. The in-silico tool comprises computational fluid and particle drag mechanics combined with particle and membrane force measurements in ionic solutions, modeled by the DLVO and the extended DLVO (xDLVO) theories, to study particle intrusion and capture in microporous polymer membranes.
Previously, we demonstrated that the in-silico tool predictions for a commercial membrane exhibit substantial flow channeling and qualitatively agree with experimental filtration measurements. In this work, we have conducted extensive intermolecular force measurements between streptavidin coated on a polystyrene sphere, and two commercial hydrophilized microfiltration poly(ether sulfone) and poly(vinylidene difluoride) membranes and obtained parameters from theoretical fits of DLVO/xDLVO theories for 100s of experimental runs at various pHs and ionic strengths.
In silico selectivity results with a feed containing particles of 0.1 and 1 μm diameter particles for our patented fused particle membrane and a commercial PES microporous membrane were ~13 and 4, respectively, illustrating that removing channel flow increases selectivity. Experiments are also underway testing these fused spherical particle microstructures.
About the Speaker
Professor Georges Belfort is currently the endowed "Institute Chair" at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), USA. He has held faculty positions at the Hebrew University (1973-1977) and RPI (1978-date). He was elected to the US National Academy of Engineering in 2003 and chosen as one of the “100 Chemical Engineers of the Modern Era” as part of the AIChE Centennial Celebration. In 2012, he was elected as a foreign member of the Bologna Academy of Sciences, Italy, and in 2019, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science in Engineering (DSc (Eng.)) honoris causa by the University of Cape Town, South Africa.
Dr Belfort currently chairs the managing board of the Society of Biological Engineers (SBE-AIChE), New York, 2014-date. He is a past President and co-founder of The North American Membrane Society (NAMS). Dr. Belfort has served on the scientific advisory board for the Max Planck Institute for Complex Systems, Magdeburg, Germany, 2011-2017, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, 2014, and is currently on the scientific advisory board of the Alexander Grass Center for Bioengineering, Hebrew University, Israel, 2014-date.
He has won several notable scientific awards including the 2017 Food, Pharmaceutical and Bioengineering Division Distinguished Service Award in Chemical Engineering, AIChE, and the 2014 NAMS Alan S. Michaels Award for Innovation in Membrane Science and Technology. He has consulted with biotechnology, water supply and membrane filtration companies in the US, Europe and Japan.
Dr Belfort’s research uses fundamental concepts to solve technical challenges in the areas of continuous bio-separations and purification of mRNA (vaccines), in vitro production and purification of biofuels and organic solvents. He has published over 250 peer-reviewed publications, 25 book chapters, and 10 assigned patents in separations science, biotechnology, health sciences, and transport phenomena.
