Engineering Surfaces and Interfaces for Improving Efficiency of Membrane Manufacturing and Processes

Membrane technologies are critical for addressing global challenges from sustainability to public health. For example, reverse osmosis (RO) membranes have been widely adopted for the desalination of seawater and brackish water, which is crucial for many regions around the world. 

In biomedical applications, membrane enabled organ functions, e.g. hemodialysis (kidney function) and blood oxygenation (lung function), are lifesaving. However, membrane technologies still face significant challenges in manufacturing, characterization and improving process efficiency. 

The three lectures present the research group’s efforts in:

1. Exploring surface patterning to improve membrane properties and liquid-separation performances, including nanopatterning of ultrafiltration (UF) and thin film composite (TFC) membranes based on nanoimprint lithography (NIL) process, as well as patterning microfiltration (MF)-type membranes bycombining soft lithography with thermally induced phase separation (TIPS) process.
2. Designing acoustically responsive microstructures to generate microstreaming for better fouling mitigation in liquid separation.
3. Understanding capillary and pressure driven polymer infiltration within porous membranes for achieving robust adhesion and device manufacturing.

The course takes place on:

• May 30
• June 4
• June 6.

Biosketch

Professor Yifu Ding received his Ph.D. in Polymer Science from the University of Akron in 2005, with an emphasis on spectroscopic studies of polymer dynamics. From 2005-2008, He was a guest researcher at National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST, Gaithersburg) where he developed and applied several X-ray and laser-based dimensional metrologies for lithographic applications. Since 2008, he has been a faculty member in the department of mechanical engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder. His research interests include (1) fundamental studies of structure, dynamics and properties of polymers in bulk and under confinement, and (2) on applying surface patterning and self-assembly techniques to create functional polymer nanostructures for emerging applications including membrane separations. Professor Ding also serves as the director of the CU Site in the Membrane Application Science and Technology (MAST) Center.