Howard P. Isermann Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering
and Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Troy, NY 12180, USA
Polymeric botlebrushes
Cross-linked bottle brush membranes offer the opportunity to design synthetic membrane structures with desirable selectivity and permeation flux. One limitation related to increased selectivity of polymeric membranes is pore wall flexibility. This requires an order of magnitude in size difference for effective separation of solutes. By stiffening the bottle brush, we aim to overcome this limitation through cross-linking and other approaches. Applications include organic solvent nanofiltration and aqueous adsorption of contaminants for biotechnology.
(Left) ATR-FTIR spectra of polyimide (red), crosslinked polyimide (blue) initiator grafted substrate (black) and brush grafted polyimide (grey) (Right) SEM images of modified crosslinked polyimide substrate indicating thickness of grafted layer and change in morphology (cPI: Crosslinked polyimide, Cx_cPI_y where x indicates monomer branch length and y the polymerization time in hours)
Ramesh et al., (2021) Organic Solvent Filtration by Brush Membranes: Permeability, Selectivity and Fouling Correlate with Degree of SET-LRP Grafting. Journal of Membrane Science, 618, 118699
Keating et al., (2018) Atmospheric Pressure Plasma - ARGET ATRP Modification of Poly(Ether Sulfone) Membranes: A Combination Attack, Journal of Membrane Science, 546, 151–157