Download Recent Advances in Membrane Development at the Industrial

DEPARTMENTAL SEMINAR
DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL AND BIOMOLECULAR
ENGINEERING
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING
National University of Singapore
4 Engineering Drive 4 Singapore 117576
Tel: (65) 6516 2186
TOPIC
SPEAKER
Fax: (65) 6779 1936
Recent Advances in Membrane Development at
the Industrial Membrane Research Laboratory
of the University of Ottawa
Professor Takeshi Matsuura
Professor Emeritus,
Department of Chemical Engineering,
University of Ottawa, Canada
HOST
Professor Chung Neal
DATE
3 February 2009 (Tuesday)
TIME
11.00 a.m.
VENUE
E5-03-19 , Faculty of Engineering, National University of
Singapore NUS Campus Map & NUS: Faculty of Engineering
SYNOPSIS
This talk presents the recent progresses made at the Industrial Membrane
Research Laboratory of the University of Ottawa.
The first topic deals with the membrane surface modification by blending surface
modifying macromolecules (SMMs). SMMs were synthesized and blended into
polymer solutions. While the polymer solution is cast into a film and solvent
evaporated, SMM migrates to the membrane surface, to reduce the surface
energy, rendering the surface of the membrane ultimately obtained either more
hydrophobic, hydrophilic or charged, depending on the property of the SMMs,
than the bulk membrane phase. The type of surface modifying macromolecules
has a co-polymeric nature. It has an amphipathic structure consisting of a main
polyurethane chain terminated with two chains containing hydrophobic,
hydrophilic or charged functional groups.
Based on this new approach, membranes were designed for:
a. Seawater desalination and water treatment by membrane distillation
b. Ultrafiltration with reduced fouling
c. Removal of PPCPs from water by nanofiltration (joint work with University
Technology Malaysia, MTU)
d. Applications for direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) (Joint work with MTU)
The second topic deals with the application of nanofiber membranes for water
treatment and desalination by membrane distillation. Electro-spinning is
known as a simple and versatile method to produce nonwoven membranes
made out of nanofibers. A wide range of polymers and blends can be used to
yield nanofibers. Commonly used membrane polymers such as cellulose
acetate (CA), polysulfone (PSU) and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) have
been successfully electro-spun to form nonwoven nanofiber membranes for
water filtration. Investigations have revealed that electro-spun nanofibrous
membranes (ENMs) possess high-flux rates and low transmembrane pressure.
These characteristics are due to its 1) high porosity, 2) interconnected open
pore structure and 3) tailorable membrane thickness. Although electro-spun
membranes have been extensively studied for decades and successfully
commercialized as air filtration membrane, they have not been applied for
water treatment.
The nanofiber membranes were tested recently at the Industrial Membrane
Research Laboratory for:
a. Removal of latex particles from water (Joint work with NUSNNI)
b. Seawater desalination by membrane distillation (Joint work with NUSNNI)
c. Trihalomethanes (THMs) and haloacetic acids (HAAs) removal by carbon
nano-fiber membranes.
BIOGRAPHY
Professor Takeshi Matsuura received his B.Sc. (1961) and M.Sc. (1963)
degrees from the Department of Applied Chemistry at the Faculty of
Engineering, University of Tokyo. He went to Germany to pursue his doctoral
studies at the Institute of Chemical Technology of the Technical University of
Berlin and received Doktor-Ingenieur in 1965.
After working at the Department of Synthetic Chemistry of University of
Tokyo as a staff assistant and at the Department of Chemical Engineering of
the University of California as a postdoctorate research associate, he joined
the National Research Council of Canada in 1969. He came to the University
of Ottawa in 1992 as a professor and the chairholder of British (Consumers)
Gas/NSERC Industrial Research Chair. He also acted as the director of the
Industrial Membrane Research Institute (IMRI). After his retirement in 2002,
he was appointed to Professor Emeritus in 2003 to be actively engaged in
membrane research.
ALL
ARE
WELCOME
Please visit our website for more details, http://www.chbe.nus.edu.sg/
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& Biomolecular Engineering ::Faculty of Engineering :: No. 4 Engineering Drive 4, :: E5 - 02 - 09 :: Singapore
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