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VITO’s role
Develop and understand membrane-based extraction with tight functionalised ceramic membranes. Benchmark to membrane extraction with open membranes, nanofiltration and L-L extraction.
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Development of more efficient, and/or more sustainable AS processes, focusing on two promising, energy-poor liquid separation technologies : membrane-based affinity separations and continuous chromatography.
Develop and understand membrane-based extraction with tight functionalised ceramic membranes. Benchmark to membrane extraction with open membranes, nanofiltration and L-L extraction.
Many chemical companies are nowadays confronted with very challenging liquid separations, aiming at separating molecules with very similar physical properties. The current trend towards more bio-based and/or highly-tailored chemicals, will only increase the number of these demanding separations. These challenges would benefit from efficient Affinity Separations (AS).
The most traditional AS technology is liquid-liquid extraction, where the extracting solvent acts as the separation agent (ASA). The most selective AS is liquid chromatography, driven by the affinity between molecules and a functionalised stationary phase, the separation material (ASM). Although successful in different situations, both AS processes have important drawbacks.
EasiChem aims at tackling these limitations, by developing more efficient, and/or more sustainable AS processes, focusing on two promising, energy-poor liquid separation technologies:
1.Membrane-based AS processes : bringing the selectivity of chromatography to membrane separations, using functionalised ceramic membranes tailored to match the separation problem;
2.Continuous chromatography : tackling the main disadvantage of selective chromatography, making use of a membrane-contactor-like design at microreactor scale.