RSA CE&C 2015-2021 Group descriptions

24 respect, collaboration with industry is crucial. The MIC/e bridges the gap between fundamental academic research and industrial valorization. It translates academic knowledge into industrial products and processes, guiding the industry in upscaling and commercialization. Research facilities The Membrane Materials and Processes research group has extensive state-of-the-art infrastructure available for membrane development, preparation, characterization and application. The group has extensive equipment for porous, dense and composite hollow fiber and flat sheet membrane development and preparation, including a dedicated setup for hollow fiber membrane spinning, flat sheet membrane casting, electrospinning and membrane dip, spray and layer-by layer coating. Besides standard physical characterizations (DSC, TGA, DMTA, rheometry and viscometry), dedicated equipment for the determination of membrane pore size, pore size distribution, membrane structure, surface charge and layer thickness, ion exchange capacity, resistance, selectivity, and electrochemical characterization is available. The group is equipped with scanning electron microscopy facilities, including EDX for composition analysis and analytical equipment for water and gas composition analysis. Electroanalytical techniques (cyclic voltammetry, rotating disk electrode) are also available both in ambient and inert conditions in the glovebox. Moreover, extensive experimental performance evaluation facilities (lab and pilot scale) are available for microfiltration, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, reverse osmosis, forward osmosis, electrodialysis, reverse electrodialysis, fuels cells, aqueous and organic flow batteries, and gas and vapor separation. Major accomplishments in the evaluation period Research quality and scientific relevance The major accomplishment during the reporting period has been the establishment of the Membrane Materials and Processes research group in 2016 by Prof. Kitty Nijmeijer and Dr. Zandrie Borneman. The group now has ~25 researchers and a fully equipped, state-of-the- art membrane lab (~300 m 2 ). Research in the group is dedicated to the design and development of polymer membranes and membrane processes for sustainable process applications involving water, gas and energy. Since a significant part of the research on energy applications involves the integration of electrochemical conversions and mass transfer phenomena at membrane-electrode interfaces, the research staff was extended in 2019 with Dr. Toni Forner- Cuenca, bringing expertise on electrode design and applications. Operating at the interface between materials chemistry and chemical process engineering, the research group is strongly embedded in the two major research clusters (i.e., Materials Science and Materials Chemistry, Process Technology) of the Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry. Also, since the start of the group, significant effort has been dedicated to the definition and build-up of the three leading research themes of the group: 1. Control of porosity Obviously, the wish to control membrane porosity is a leading theme. Inspired by work on liquid crystalline polymers, we developed a new membrane concept based on such materials and use the molecular self-organization of liquid crystalline polymers as a tool to tailor the pore size and functionality of membranes. 1-3 On a very different length scale, we use electrospinning to design porous support structures with tunable porosity to concentrate diluted streams in e.g., food, diary or agricultural rest streams. 4