Directed Development of High-Performance Membranes via High-Throughput and Combinatorial Strategies

Abstract

Combinatorial strategies are for the first time applied in membrane technology and prove to be a powerful new tool in the search for novel membrane materials. The selected system for this study is a polyimide solvent-resistant nanofiltration membrane prepared via phase inversion. The phase inversion process is a typical membrane synthesis procedure involving a large number of compositional components, which can each be varied in a wide concentration range. The optimization of the membrane dope composition was performed using evolutionary optimization via genetic algorithms. Compared with the best commercially available membranes, a substantially improved membrane performance could be realized, both on the level of membrane selectivity and on that of permeability. The miniaturized high-throughput synthesis procedure could be scaled up successfully when the polymer dope was sufficiently viscous. It can be anticipated that application of combinatorial techniques can potentially lead to major improvements in all fields of membrane technology, for example water treatment, gas separation, and dialysis, not only on the compositional level but also for instance on the level of membrane synthesis posttreatment and operational conditions.

Combinatorial and High‐Throughput Materials Science

“…[300,301] With the help of genetic algorithms, novel polyimide-based solventresistant nanofiltration membranes have also been developed by HT techniques. [302] 5.9. Polymers Polymeric materials, polymerization catalysts, and polymer blends belong to the group of complex materials originally believed not to be suitable for HTT.…”

Optimization of cellulose acetate nanofiltration membranes for micropollutant removal via genetic algorithms and high throughput experimentation

“…In previous similar optimizations a population size of 64 was selected for 8 parameters. [15] Since the total number of parameters to be optimized is 6, 48 seems to be an adequate population size. For each parameter, a value was randomly selected in the ranges presented in section 2.2.…”

“…These tools have also proven to be extremely useful in membrane technology to develop better performing membranes, directing membrane composition towards improved separation properties. [13][14][15] In such an approach, it is possible to obtain maximum output while minimizing time and material consumption. [14] Also they have been used to select the operating variables of the process to optimize the performance of the membrane system.…”

Combinatorial and High‐Throughput Methods in Macromolecular Materials Research and Development

“…[163] The development of highperformance nanofiltration membranes using a combinatorial approach has been reported. [164] High-throughput approaches are being used to explore flame retardant polymer formulations. [165] Potyrailo has reviewed the use of combinatorial methodologies and rational design methods for the design of polymer-based sensor materials.…”