HIGH-FLUX, HIGH-SELECTIVITY CYCLODEXTRIN MEMBRANES

IN DEVELOPING MEMBRANES TO PERFORM SEPARATIONS, TWO MAJOR TECHNICAL ISSUES MUST BE ADDRESSED: PERMEATE FLUX AND MEMBRANE SELECTIVITY. A MAJOR BARRIER TO THE APPLICATION OF MEMBRANES IN GAS OR LIQUID SEPARATIONS IS THE LACK OF MEMBRANE MATERIALS THAT EXHIBIT BOTH HIGH FLUX AND HIGH SELECTIVITY. THE APPLICATION OF MEMBRANES TO INDUSTRIAL-SCALE SEPARATIONS WOULD BE ACCELERATED SIGNIFICANTLY BY THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW MEMBRANE MATERIALS AND CONCEPTS THAT LEAD TO IMPROVEMENTS IN BOTH OF THESE AREAS. IN THIS PROGRAM A NOVEL, ULTRATHIN MOLECULAR-SIEVE MEMBRANE WILL BE DEVELOPED THAT CONSISTS OF AN ARRAY OF ORDERED CHANNELS. THE CHANNELS WILL HAVE THREE IMPORTANT CHARACTERISTICS: (1) CHANNEL DIAMETERS WILL BE OF MOLECULAR DIMENSIONS, (2) ALL CHANNELS WILL HAVE THE SAME DIAMETER, AND (3) THE CHANNELS WILL TRAVERSE THE MEMBRANE. THE PLANNED MOLECULAR-SIEVE MEMBRANE IS EXPECTED TO EXHIBIT HIGH PERMEATE FLUX (DUE TO ITS EXTREME THINNESS), HIGH CHANNEL DENSITY, AND A HIGH DEGREE OF CHANNEL ORIENTATION. ADDITIONALLY, THE MOLECULAR-SIEVE MEMBRANE IS EXPECTED TO EXHIBIT HIGH SELECTIVITY AMONG CLOSELY RELATED MOLECULAR STRUCTURES (E.G., STRUCTURAL AND GEOMETRIC ISOMERS) BECAUSE OF THE CHANNEL CHARACTERISTICS LISTED ABOVE.