3D-Printed Membranes For Hypersaline Produced Water Treatment

Michael Ferrebee* and Oishi Sanyal

Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506

Presentation Category: Physical Sciences & Engineering (Poster Presentation #158)

Student’s Major: Chemical Engineering

This project works to develop membranes for hypersaline-produced water treatment using an unconventional additive manufacturing technique. A new platform that involves the layering of alternately charged polymers, is expected to lead to suitable membranes and is the current focus of our work. The traditional method of this layering process is typically time-consuming and therefore poses challenges to large-scale manufacturing. To overcome this challenge, an unconventional direct ink-writing technique developed by Prof. Kostas Sierros’ research group (WVU Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering) for low-viscosity inks is being utilized. This presentation represents the initial phase of membrane development. The initial studies focusing on the morphology and porosity of the resulting thin film is being carried out by printing alternate layers of oppositely charged polyelectrolytes on glass slides. Such 3D-printed films are analyzed and compared against traditional dip-coated films using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In our poster presentation, we will focus on analyzing these results and detail how these preliminary data guide us towards high-performance membrane development. This undergraduate research was funded by the National Science Foundation EPSCOR project “Improving Water Management, Treatment, and Recovery in Oil and Gas Production.”

Funding: National Science Foundation

Program/mechanism supporting research/creative efforts: WVU's Research Apprenticeship Program (RAP) & accompanying HONR 297-level course, 2021 Energy & Water Scholars Program