RSA CE&C 2015-2021 Group descriptions

Chemical and Process Technology (CPT) 23 We distinguish three main application areas: water, gas and electrons. 1. Water A major application area of our research is dedicated to membranes for water treatment, purification and reuse. This involves the treatment of wastewater such that it can be discharged or reused in industrial applications or the production of drinking water, with both applications primarily focusing on the retention of salts and micropollutants (e.g., drugs, chemicals) using ultrafiltration andmodified layer-by-layermembraneswithdesigned functionalities.Moreover, research is dedicated to the concentration, purification and valorization of rest streams for the recovery and reuse of valuable components, e.g., the selective separation of nutrients such as minerals from manure treatment processes or amino acids and proteins in food and dairy processing. This involves forward osmosis processes for concentration and the use of tailored isoporous or layer-by-layer membranes for selective recovery. Membrane fouling is a dominant aspect in all water treatment processes and an integral part of our research. 2. Gas Research on gas involves the development and application of membranes for the separation of a wide variety of industrial gas mixtures involving any of the components H 2 , CH 4 , CO, CO 2 , N 2 , O 2 , He and/or Ar. This also includes supercritical CO 2 drying processes and CO 2 capture, sometimes combined and integrated with e.g., chemical, biological or plasma CO 2 conversion. Moreover, the capture of water vapor from e.g., flue gases or in the pulp and paper industry is also included. Besides polymer and block copolymer membranes, research involves the controlled incorporation of additives such as molecular organic frameworks (MOFs) or crown ethers to enhance gas separation performance and suppress plasticization. 3. Electrons In applications involving electrons, membranes and electrodes are inherently combined and integrated. Research involves the design and development of membranes and electrodes for selective separation and energy applications. A lot of focus is on the design of porous electrodes with controlled porosity and the development of ion-exchange membranes using electrospinning or solution casting. This is complemented with research on membrane- electrode assembly, flow cell design and component integration. Application areas are focused on energy generation and conversion (blue energy, fuel cells, electrolyzers) and energy storage (flow batteries) and also include selective separation of charged components for e.g., the desalination of saline water or the separation of proteins and amino acids. Valorization and societal impact We highly value knowledge transfer and valorization of our scientific results into industrial applications and solutions. To effectuate that, we established the Membrane Innovation Centre Eindhoven (MIC/e), headed by Dr. Zandrie Borneman, who directly collaborated with over 100 industrial partners. The MIC/e translates academic knowledge from, for example, PhD projects into concrete industrial applications and solutions for questions from industry. While the results of PhD projects are always published, this obligation does not apply to the projects carried out by the MIC/e. This allows companies to develop and market new products and processes while also gaining scientific knowledge. The duration of MIC/e projects ranges from a few hours for e.g., a standard membrane characterization to up to three years for e.g., the development of a new type of membrane. The strong relationship between our academic research and the application means that we naturally seek cooperation with industry. This cooperation makes research inspiring and challenging. The major technological challenges associated with the transition to a circular society demand innovative but also achievable solutions in terms of time and application. In this