Polymers for Isoporous and Functional Membranes
CURRENT PROJECTS
Polymers for Isoporous and Functional Membranes (J. Mansouri, V. Chen, M.
Wardjojo, E. Halim, T. Charlton, M. Stenzel, S. Harrisson (CSIRO), E.
Rizzardo (CSIRO), CRC for Polymers)
Membrane fouling is one of the major problems in aqueous membrane
purification processes. It leads to a loss of membrane performance, makes time
and cost intensive cleaning steps necessary, and shortens the membrane lifetime.
Conventional polymer membranes have a wide distribution of pore sizes, with the
oversized pores carrying a disproportionate amount of the flux, making them
prone to fouling by particulate plugging. Physico-chemical characteristics of
the surface also determine adsorption of macromolecules and biofouling. Research
in this project is investigating novel approaches to reduce membrane fouling,
including the incorporation of additives selected or designed to reduce fouling,
surface modification, and the development of processes for making membranes with
uniform pore sizes (isoporous membranes).
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Isoporous microporous membranes fabricated in the Centre. |
