NanoMemPro e-Newsletter
“Expanding membrane macroscale applications by exploring nanoscale
material properties”
e-Newsletter of the Network of Excellence “NanoMemPro”
Year 1, Issue 1, April 2005
Contact person: Kitty Nymeijer (e-mail: )
NanoMemPro e-Newsletter, April 20051
Dear NanoMemPro partner,
In front of you, you have the first 6 months newsletter of NanoMemPro, a Network of Excellence, subsidised by the European Union. The network officially started last year, about 7 months ago, on the first of September 2004 and at this moment 14 partners of 13 different European countries are involved in NanoMemPro (CNRS-France, Imperial College London- England, IBET-Portugal, GKSS-Germany, Forth/ICE-HT-Greece, Vito-Belgium, Sintef-Norway, UTwente-The Netherlands, Unizar-Spain, LUT-Finland, ITM/CNR-Italy, ICTP-Czech Republic, DTU-Denmark, ACIES-France (management)).
The main aim of NanoMemPro is to establish a European virtual laboratory of excellence in membrane materials and engineering and to coordinate and orientate European membrane research. Important in this respect is the integration of research activities and the international exchange of information on the development and application of membranes between the different European partners involved in NanoMemPro. A very ambitious aim, but if I look back to what has already been done during the first six months since the official start of the network, I think that we are able to establish such a European network on membranes within the coming years and use all the benefits of the network.
One of the most important aspects of a network is to know each other, to know who does what and to know were to find each other. This is one of the main things we did during the last 6 months. Already several activities, workshops and meetings have been organised to identify common research topics and to get into contact with the researchers and the industrial partners involved in NanoMemPro. Short summaries of these meetings can be found in this news letter. The impression I have from these meetings is that many people already participate actively in NanoMemPro.And, looking to the future, I hope that even more people will participate and help to build a European Network on Membranes!
Warm Regards,
Kitty Nymeijer
NanoMemPro e-Newsletter, April 20051
Also interested in meeting other young membrane scientists?
The Netherlands invites you for the Network Young Membrains 7 at the University of Twente in Enschede. The NYM 7 will be held from June 22-24, 2005 and is organized by the Membrane Technology Group at the University of Twente.
Every membrane scientist under 35 is welcome to participate in this international meeting of young researchers. Prof. Wessling and Prof. Melin will give plenary lectures, there will be a lot of time for discussions about our scientific topics and there will certainly be a lot of fun!
See you all in Enschede!
For more information and registration, see our webpage:
NanoMemPro e-Newsletter. The internal news bulletin of the NanoMemPro Network of Excellence (RTD-Project 6th FP, NoE, Contract No. NMP3-CT-2004-500623). Contact Details: NanoMemPro, Dr.ir. Kitty Nymeijer. University of Twente - Membrane Technoloy Group. P.O. Box 217. 7500 AE Enschede - The Netherlands. Tel.: +31(0)53-4894185/2950. Fax: +31(0)53-489461. . Circulation and Distribution: All NanoMemPro partners. Electronic. Also available online at:
NanoMemPro e-Newsletter, April 20051
Workshop on Modelling and Simulation of MembranePerformance (WP 08)
Forth/ICE-HT, Greece, January 27-28, 2005
Vasilis Burganos
The main research issues and integration plans for membrane structure, transport, and process modeling were discussed among the NanoMemPro partners, in a two-day workshop that took place at FORTH/ICE-HT facilities in Patras, Greece. All partners participating in this particular theme were represented in this event by one or more delegates. The goal of the workshop was to ensure maximum synergy between partners and to avoid work overlapping or duplication. Work activities were organized into subtasks and partners were distributed among several Thematic Subgroups. Six distinct Exercises were decided to be launched during the initial period of the project, aiming at the investigation and promotion of membrane modelling integration.
During the first day of the meeting each partner initially presented their own background and interests in the fields of membrane modelling, followed by an initial discussion on complementarity and overlapping issues. A very wide range of the consortium capabilities for membrane modelling was revealed, extending from modern simulation techniques to study microscale structure and transport phenomena all the way to process-scale models and codes. It was noted that overlapping among partners’ activities was limited and the first areas for creating synergy were identified, including exchange of experimental and modelling information on filtration processes, and transport simulation in porous membranes.
Integration issues were discussed during the second day of the meeting, and decisions were taken regarding the organization of the membrane modelling integration activities. The discussion was targeted on technical issues regarding different types of approaching similar problems, exchange of experimental data, and different types of membrane material, but also on horizontal actions like interaction with other parts of the Network work programme, availability of experimental data, input-output formats, content and planning of lab-to-lab travelling, and potential relation to industrial needs and practice.
Several thematic groups were identified, focused on membrane structure modelling, transport phenomena & scale-up modelling, and process modelling.
It was agreed among the Network partners that a set of representative case studies or “exercises” would be most helpful to identify the elements required for integration of membrane modelling and simulation activities. In this way, the capabilities and expertise of each partner would be better understood by the other partners and possibly missing links would be identified. In the latter case, corrective actions should be taken to address these points and ensure global coverage of key membrane-modelling capabilities. The content of the exercises covers membrane structure identification from SEM/TEM and computer-aided reconstruction, atomic-scale modelling of polymeric membranes, transport calculations, process-scale NF modelling, membrane reactor modelling, and zeolite modelling for gas separation. The outlines and algorithms of the exercises will be formulated by the Exercise leaders.
Finally, some first ideas were brought forward during the discussion, regarding aspects of joint research integration and knowledge dissemination. Membrane modelling and simulation could be part of the syllabus of the European Masters degree on membranes. Short courses, possibly planned within NanoMemPro and related to membrane modelling, could be integrated into the relevant coursework.
If you want to have more information on this work package, please have a look at Project Place (document archive/activities&workpackages/activity 08) or contact the coordinator of this work package (Vasilis Burganos, ).
NanoMemPro e-Newsletter, April 20051
Workshop on New Production Processes: System Approach(WP 11.1)
ImperialCollege, London, February 17, 2005
Andrew Livingston, Ludmila Peeva
The first meeting for work package 11.1, New Production Processes: System Approach was organised at ImperialCollege, London on February 17, 2005. The main objectives of this work package are:
- Develop and roll out across the network a set of metrics for measuring sustainability and hazard so that membrane systems can be assessed for the environmental benefits.
- Agree four production process areas in which a membrane system engineering approach will be developed, and develop two project proposals involving at least three contributing partners.
- Obtain a working understanding of the relationship between membrane architecture and overall system performance, measured using sustainability and economic metrics.
- Fabricate membranes to fill the gap between “desired” and “possible” properties, and demonstrate these in at least one new production process.
Representatives of the 11 NanoMemPro partners participating in the WP attained the workshop. The main deliverable of the workshop was an agreement on metrics for sustainability and hazard in membrane processes. Thus the partners agreed to use the “green” metrics shown in Table 1.
Table 1: Selected “green” metrics for NanoMemPro partners.
Category / Metric / UnitsMass / / Kg/kg
/ %
Energy / / MJ/kg
Ecotoxicity / / Kg
Safety / Dow criteria / -
Economic / Cost / €
EC50: concentration at which 50% of the organisms in an acute toxicity test die during the fixed time period of the study.
The following potential case studies have been proposed for evaluation by these metrics:
- Wastewater Treatment:
- Recycling pulp&paper effluents.
-Membrane BioReactors (MBRs) for treatment of domestic wastewaters.
- Water Production:
- From surface water.
- Desalination of seawater.
- Membrane Reactors:
- Synthesis of Naproxen.
- Syngas production.
- Separation in Organic Solvents:
- Use of NF for recycling organic solvents.
-Use of NF for recycling catalyst.
- Gas Separation:
- Paraffins - Olefins mixtures separation.
The proposed processes will be refined further before the end of April 2005 via e-mail communication between partners. The process areas specified above ill be also used as milestones for developing the membrane engineering approach and new project proposals.
If you want to have more information on this work package, please have a look at Project Place (document rchive/activities&workpackages/activity11/WP11.1/meetings) or contact the coordinator of this work package (Andrew Livingston, or Ludmila Peeva, ).
Meeting of the Club of Interest (WP 04)
Brussels, March 10, 2005
Gilbert Rios and Kitty Nymeijer
The first meeting of the Club of Interest (CoI) was organised in Brussels on March 10, 2005. Industrial partners that want to participate in NanoMemPro can become a member of the Club of Interest and thus get involved into the network. The first meeting of the CoI was, apart from the partners of NanoMemPro, attended by representatives of BASF, CFM, DANISCO, EBN, ECN, GMS, KEMIRA, MAST CARBON, Membraflow, UPT, IMT Cenobite, Sviluppo Italia, ALFA LAVAL, CTI and SOLVAY.
Prof. Rios (CNRS) opened the meeting and briefly presented the objectives of NanoMemPro, the guidelines of the Network of Excellence, and the four main applications areas of NanoMemPro (New production processes: system approach, food quality; safer production methods, sustainable energy systems, life support and health). He finally presented the strategy developed with the core-partners and the Club of Interest.
During the discussion it turned out that the main problem in the membrane research is that the level of visibility in Europe is very low. In Europe the critical mass for membrane industry is not yet achieved. To improve the situation in industry, it is very important to provide proper training of young engineers in membrane field and to give them a good expertise in both research and industrial application. Another problem is that the European membrane companies do not participate in the research meetings and conferences performed in Europe.
The industrial partners pointed out that the largest problem is communication. All the industrial partners agreed that the competition breaks communication. The point is not to compete but to establish a starting point for share and communication. Partners agreed that the communication has to be established on the general topics in order to promote membrane technologies as leading technologies in Europe. This can not be done without contribution from industry.
The discussion was followed by three brief scientific presentations:
1. The Supra-Combinatorial methodology (M. Barboiu – CNRS/IEM): Dr. Barboiu presented briefly the application of membranes in developing the supra-combinatorial libraries.
2. Phase separation micro moulding (K. Nijmeijer - University of Twente): Dr. Nijmeijer described a new technique used to develop membranes with extremely well defined and symmetric micro and nano-porous structure by micro moulding.
3. Membrane engineering and process intensification (E. Drioli - CNR/IMT): Prof. Drioli described briefly the application of membrane engineering in process intensification. The main message of his speech was that the only way for promoting the membrane technology is with the help of industry. Otherwise it is pointless to try.
The scientific presentations were followed by a presentation of Dr. R. Vaux who presented the last FP6 opportunities concerning NMP for developing collaborative projects between academia and industry (STREP, CA, SSA) with a whole budget of €120 million (Deadline: 15th September 2005). It was pointed out that the discussion is interesting, however it can’t be expected that the meeting will result immediately in generating project proposals. The partners will need some time for communication and thinking. The most important thing to be done first is to provide information of what are the main interests of each partner in order to find suitable partners within the network and CoI.
Finally, P. Kerr, Principal Administrator of the EU and Joao Crespo, leader of WP 6.2 ”Develop high added value technological services” described the concept of developing Technology Platforms. The Technology Platforms (TP) are united stakeholders around a common vision and approach for the development of the technologies concerned, with specific focus on the definition of a Strategic Research Agenda and the mobilisation of the necessary critical mass of research and innovative effort. The main message was that there is a great potential and big chance to establish and get funding for European Membrane TP and this is the right moment to start.
If you want to have more information on this work package, please have a look at Project Place (document archive/activities&workpackages/activity04) or contact the coordinator of this work package (Andrew Livingston, or Ludmila Peeva, ) or the coordinator of NanoMemPro (Gilbert Rios, ).
Workshop on Life Support and Health (WP 11.4)
University of Twente, The Netherlands, March 21-22, 2005
Dimitrios Stamatialis, Magda Avramescu
Eight European groups (UTwente-The Netherlands, CNRS-France, Imperial College London- England, IBET-Portugal, GKSS-Germany, Vito-Belgium, ITM/CNR-Italy, Forth/ICE-HT-Greece, LUT-Finland, DTU-Denmark) got involved in the NanoMemPro project related to the Life support and health work package (WP 11.4). The first NanoMemPro meeting was organized on March 21st - 22nd2005by the Membrane Technology Group of the University of Twente and gave the chance to each participant to present their projects related to bio-artificial organs and safe water production field.
Dr. Y.M. Legrand (YL) presented the activities of CNRS related to the cluster of bio- artificial organs. YL covered a wide range of topics such as biomimetic membranes (dynamers), nanozeolites, implant devices (biofuel cells), patches for drug delivery affinity membranes and -emulsions for intravenous nutrition. Besides, he presented results of theoretical and experimental work on the interaction proteins at solid /liquid interfaces (inorganic and organic).
Dr. C. Albasi (CA) presented the activities of CNRS related to the cluster of sustainable and safe water production. She presented the application of polymeric membranes (ultrafiltration and nanofiltration) for the retention of biological and chemical contaminants from water. CA mainly presented results concerning commercial membranes (polyethersulfone, regenerated cellulose, polyamide, cellulose acetate).
Dr. K. Li (KLi) presented the activities of Imperial related to the life support and health. He presented details on the preparation and characterization of annular hollow fibre for artificial organs (especially the “Sandwich reactor” concept) and earlier work on the preparation of PLLA and PLGA hollow fibres for bone tissue enginnering. Besides, KL showed details on the purification of water by membrane assisted photolytic ozonation including brief information on the membrane fabrication – modification and the reactor design. Finally, he briefly showed earlier work on the removal of CO2 from air – on board submarines.
Prof. M.N de Pinho (MP) presented the activities of IST related to the workpackage 11.4. Concerning the cluster of bio-artificial organs, MP gave specific attention to synthesis and characterization of polyurethane membranes for extracorporal blood oxygenators (gas permeability, haemolytic index, thrombosis). For the cluster related to safe water production, she discussed the activities on UF/NF/RO transport modelling, as well as, the design and optimization of integrated processes for water and waste- water treatment (lysozyme retention from water, sea water desalination etc).
Prof. M. Reis (MR) presented the activities of IBET on the safe water production. She discussed mainly two topics: (i) the development of bioreactors to avoid contamination of treated water and (ii) methods to retain viruses by membranes. For the first topic, MR discussed the concept and application of the ion exchange membrane reactor. For the second topic, she presented the preparation and characterization of virus like particles.
Dr. K. Luetzow (KL) presented the activities of GKSS related to the cluster of bio-artificial organs. GKSS has an extensive R & D program on regenerative medicine. KL discussed mainly three topics: Tissue engineering, biohydride organs and apheresis technology. She gave details on the preparation, modification and characterization of polyetherimide (PEI) particles for protein (BSA, fibrinogen, plasma) adsorption. Besides, she briefly discussed the concept of fibre in fibre and the development of relevant bioreactors for tissue engineering of liver.
Dr. D. Stamatialis (DS) presented the activities of UTwente related to the cluster of bio-artificial organs. He first discussed the principle of phase separation micromolding (PSM) and its application for the development of advanced polymeric structures for tissue engineering. Then, he presented the concept of the mixed matrix adsorber membrane and its application for protein adsorption, enzyme immobilization and/or waste water treatment. Finally, DS showed the activities related to the development of transdermal drug delivery system and the preparation – modification and characterization of inorganic and polymeric microsieve membranes for biotechnological applications.