Creating Eco-Friendly Chemical Separation.

• Position: NANOFILTRATION

Chemical separation processes are essential in the manufacturing of many products from gasoline to whiskey. Such processes are energetically costly, accounting for approximately 10% to 15% of global energy consumption. In particular, the use of socalled "thermal separation processes," such as distillation for separating petroleum-based hydrocarbons, is deeply ingrained in the chemical industry and has a very large associated energy footprint. Membrane-based separation processes have the potential to reduce such energy consumption significantly.

Membrane filtration processes that separate contaminants from the air we breathe and the water we drink have become commonplace. However, membrane technologies for separating hydrocarbon and other organic materials are far less developed.

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania's School of Engineering and Applied Science are developing new membranes for energy-efficient organic separations by rethinking their physical structure on the nanoscale.

Nanofiltration using self-assembling membranes has been a major research area for Chinedum Osuji, professor in the Department of Chemical...