A MOLECULAR RECOGNITION MEMBRANE

THIS STUDY INVOLVES A NEW TYPE OF COMPOSITE MEMBRANE THAT WILL ALLOW FOR SIGNIFICANTLY ENHANCED SEPARATIONS OF COMPLEXMIXTURES OF INORGANIC AND/OR ORGANIC CHEMICALS. MATURE SEPARATION TECHNOLOGIES SUCH AS ION EXCHANGE AND REVERSE OSMOSIS ARE VERY USEFUL BUT, IN GENERAL, CANNOT ACHIEVE THE DEGREE OF SELECTIVITIES NECESSARY FOR THE PRACTICAL SEPARATIONS OF SUCH MIXTURES. THE DESIGN OF THIS NOVEL MEMBRANE COMBINES THE PROPERTY OF ENHANCED SELECTIVITY WITH THE OTHER ATTRACTIVE FEATURES OF STATE-OF-THE-ART MEMBRANES. PHASE I WILL EVALUATE THE FEASIBILITY OF PREPARING COMPOSITE MEMBRANES FORMED WITH REGIONS OF HIGH SELECTIVITY FOR MODEL COMPOUNDS. SCREENING TESTS USING MODEL ORGANIC COMPOUNDS IN WATER WILL EXPERIMENTALLY EVALUATE THE APPROACH. SUCCESSFUL DEMONSTRATION OF ENHANCEDSEPARATION OF COMPLEX MIXTURES OF ORGANIC COMPOUNDS WILL LEAD TO A PHASE II PROGRAM INVOLVING AN EXPANDED STUDY OF MIXTURE SEPARATIONS. PHASE II WOULD OPTIMIZE MEMBRANE FLUX WHILE RETAINING GOOD SELECTIVITY, MEASURE THE DURABILITY OF THE MEMBRANES, AND ASSESS THE OVERALL ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY OF THE USE OF THESE COMPOSITE MEMBRANES FOR COMMERCIAL SEPARATIONS.