Reimagining the shape of polymeric and ceramic membranes using 3D printing

Title: Reimagining the shape of polymeric and ceramic membranes using 3D printing

Speakers:
Prof. John Chew and Dr. Liana Zoumpouli, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Bath, UK

Abstract (in English):

Additive manufacturing or 3D printing has greatly expanded the capability to design and produce membranes with tailored patterned surfaces that can improve the efficiency of separation processes. This presentation will provide an overview of our research on both polymeric and ceramic 3D-printed membranes, which have been developed using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations. Composite membranes comprising 3D printed supports with a double sinusoidal (wavy) pattern and different selective layers were tested in ultrafiltration, nanofiltration and membrane distillation. The wavy pattern induced higher surface shear stress and improved fluid mixing, leading to reduced organic fouling and concentration polarisation compared to flat membranes. Recently, we expanded this approach to porous ceramics which are challenging to shape in unconventional geometries. Complex ceramic structures such as sinusoidal and twisted tubes were produced using a customised photopolymerisable resin containing titanium acrylate. After thermal post-treatment, the printed tubes were converted into pure titania with a high porosity. Gyroid foams with a hierarchical pore structure were also printed with the same approach. The 3D printed foams achieved efficient photocatalytic degradation of a persistent pharmaceutical pollutant in water. Finally, we will discuss our recent work on 3D printed membranes for microfiber removal in collaboration with the University of Iceland.