The National Research Council (CNR) completed the procedure for selecting the new Director of the Institute on Membrane Technology. Dr. Lidietta Giorno has been appointed as Director of ITM. She is officially in charge since the middle of May 2009. The overall activities of the Institute will be continued according to the mission pursued over the years. Good luck Lidietta!

Dr. Lidietta Giorno has been elected as President of the EMS for the term 2009-2010 in a meeting held on February 2, in Maison-Lafitte (France). The board has also been renewed with the following members: Mihail BARBOIU (France), Wojciech KUJAWSKI (Poland), Kang LI (United Kingdom), Susana LUQUE (Spain), Kitty NIJMEIJER (The Netherlands), Jean-Christophe SCHROTTER (France), Mathias ULBRICHT (Germany), Bart VAN der BRUGGEN (Belgium). http://www.emsoc.eu/

I n s t i t u t e on Membr ane Techno logy I TM-CNR

The conference will address advances in seawater and brackish water desalination and their strong relation to new technologies and process intensification strategy. Water stress is becoming a major problem worldwide which negatively affects the overall quality of life and industrial development. Reclamation and reuse of purified sea-brackish and wastewater represents an important part of the water supply in many areas of the world, particularly in Europe, the U.S., Australia and Japan. The reclaimed/reused water can help meet the increasing municipal, industrial, and agricultural demands for water. Water production, water treatments and water distributions can be completely redesigned in order to alleviate water shortages in modern, advanced city planning. Topics such as Integrated and hybrid water purification technologies, Innovative desalination operations, and Future water planning will be featured and industrial contributions will be emphasized. There will be discussion on the existing limits of current water treatment technologies and future possible developments in new and non-traditional areas interfacing environment, water distribution systems, etc. The conference will provide an excellent forum for scientists and technologists in all aspects of water desalination to exchange their ideas and experiences and to update their knowledge of latest developments and future strategies in the various aspects of water desalination. The conference, organized by ITM-CNR and the Engineering Conferences International, New York (USA) will be held at the Grand Hotel San Michele in Cetraro; it will be chaired by Professor Enrico Drioli (Institute on Membrane Technology (ITM-CNR) and University of Calabria, Italy and Dr. Norman Li, NL Chemical Technology, Inc. (USA). http://www.engconf.org/10agabout.html

ECI Conference, 9 - 12 May 2010

New Director at the Institute on Membrane Technology

New President at the European Membrane Society

ITM NEWS

Summary:

New Director 1

ECI Conference 1

JCG&D Cover 1

Publications 2

Training Activities 2

Visiting Scientists 3

Focus 5

Projects meetings and related activities 6

Miscellaneous 8

c/o University of Calabria, Via Pietro Bucci, Cubo 17C, 87030 Rende (CS) ITALY Tel: (39) - (0984) 492050/402706, Fax: (39) - (0984) 402103 E-mail: l.giorno@itm.cnr.it

June 2009, Issue 10

The cover of the last issue of the Journal of Crystal Growth & Design (May 6, 2009, Volume 9, Issue 5) of the American Chemical Society was dedicated to a research on membrane crystallization conducted by ITM researchers. In particular, this research concerns the crystallization of L-glutamic acid polymorphs in both quiescent and forced solution flow membrane crystallizers. The β polymorph was selectively obtained in static conditions, while the α form was preferentially grown in dynamic configuration, depending on the rate of solvent removal. According to concepts of the classical nucleation theory, the nucleation rate of the two polymorphs α and β have been calculated taking into account the quiescent/forced solution fluid dynamics regime and the homogeneous/heterogeneous nucleation activation mechanism. By this approach, the number-based polymorph fraction a, which is considered as an indication of the chance for a specific polymorphs to nucleate, was calculated. On these bases, the effect of supersaturation control and heterogeneous nucleation on the porous membrane surface was analyzed. Theoretical calculations have been compared with the experimental polymorphic outcome of the crystallization of L-glutamic acid (LGA) and an appropriate crystallization mechanism, for the different operative environments, has been formulated. Although it is obvious, classical theory was a helpful tool in describing experimental results obtained in the membrane-based equipment.

Crystallization with membranes (Membrane Crystallization)

− Buonomenna, M.G.; Figol i , A.; Spezzano, I, Driol i , E.; PEEKWC microcapsules for selective oxidation of benzyl alcohols to aldehydes, Catalysis Communications, 2008, 2209-2212, 9(13)

− Curcio, E., Di Profio, G., Driol i , E., Probabil ist ic aspects of polymorph selection by heterogeneous nucleation on microporous hydrophobic membrane surfaces, Journal of Crystal Growth, 2008, 310/24(5364-5369)

− Driol i , E., Fontananova, E., Bonchio, M., Carraro, M., Gardan, M., Scorrano, G., Catalyt ic Membranes and Membrane Reactors: An Integrated Approach to Catalyt ic Process with a High Eff ic iency and a Low Environmental Impact, Chinese Journal of Catalysis 29(11) (2008) 1152-1158

− Driol i , E., Giorno, L., Criscuoli , A., Editorial, Chemical Engineering and Processing: Process Intensif ication, 47(7), 2008, 1043 − Galaverna, G. Di Si lvestro, G., Cassano, A., Sforza, S., Dossena, A., Driol i , E., Marchell i , R., A new integrated membrane

process for the production of concentrated blood orange juice: Effect on bioactive compounds and ant ioxidant activ ity, Food Chemistry 106 (2008) 1021–103

− Bernardo, P., Driol i , E., Golemme, G., Membrane Gas Separation: A Review/State of the Art, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., DOI: 10.1021/ie8019032, Publ ication Date (Web): 22 Apri l 2009

− Bey, S., Buonomenna, M.G., Benamor, M., Driol i , E., Preparation and Characterization of Microporous Membranes Prepared by Wet Phase Inversion. Application to Ni (I I) Transport, Materials Science Forum Vol. 609 (2009) pp 183-188

− Cardea, S., Gugliuzza, A., Sessa, M., Aceto, M.C., Driol i , E., Reverchon, E., Supercrit ical drying: a powerful tool for tai loring symmetric porous PVDF-HFP membranes, Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 1(1) (2009) 171-180.

− Cassano, A., Mecchia, A., Driol i , E., Concentrazione di mosto d’uva mediante dist i l lazione osmotica : effetto dei parametr i operativi sul f lusso di evaporazione, Industrie delle Bevande - XXXVIII (2009) apri le, anno 38 - n. 220, 19 – 28

− Cassano, A., Tassell i , F., Conidi, C., Driol i , E., Ultraf i l trat ion of Clementine mandarin juice by hol low f ibre membranes, Desalination 241 (2009) 302-308

− Choi, S.-H, Scura, F., Barbieri , G., Mazzei, R., Giorno, L., Driol i , E., Kim, J.-H., Bio-degradation of Phenol in Wastewater by Enzyme-loaded Membrane Reactor: Numerical Approach, Membrane Journal), Vol. 19, No. 1 March, 2009, 72-82

− Criscuoli , A., Driol i , E., “Membrane contactors for gaseous streams treatments”, Chapter in Handbook of Membrane Separations: Chemical, Pharmaceutical and Biotechnological Applications Eds.A.K. Pabby, A.M. Sastre, S.S. Rizvi. Production editor. K. Kwak, Marcel Dekker, Inc., ISBN 9780849395499 CRC press Taylor &Fr. 2009, pag 1041-1055

− De Bartolo, L., Salerno, S., Curcio, E., Piscioneri, A., Rende, M., Morell i , S., Tassell i , F., Bader, A., Driol i , E., Human hepatocyte functions in a crossed hollow f iber membrane bioreactor, Biomaterials 30 (2009) 2531–2543

− De Luca, G., Gugliuzza,A., Driol i , E., Competit ive host-host, guest-host interactions in modif ied polymer membranes: a Density Functional Theory investigation on the availabi l i ty of polymer polar moieties, J. Phys. Chem B 113 (16) (2009) 5473–5477.

− Friess,K., Jansen, J.C., Vopicka,O., Randová,A., Hynek, V., Sípek, M., Bartovská, L., Izák,P., Dingemans, M., Dewulf,J., Van Langenhove, H., Driol i , E., Comparative study of sorption and permeation techniques for the determination of heptane and toluene transport in polyethylene membranes, J. Membr. Sci., in press. doi:10.1016/ j.memsci.2009.04.030

− Giusi, G., Facciolo, R. M., Rende, M., Alo, R., Di Vito, A., Salerno, S., Morel l i , S., De Bartolo, L., Driol i , E., Canonaco, M., Dist inct α subunits of the GABAA receptor are responsible for early hippocampal si lent neuron-related activit ies. Hippocampus 2009, DOI: 10.1002/hipo.20584

− Gugliuzza A., Speranza V., Trotta F. and Driol i E., (2009), Bio-inspired membranes with well-defined channels, Chemical Engineering Transactions, 17 (2009) 1537-1542 (DOI 10.3303/CET0917258)

− Laera, S., Lopez, L.C., De Bartolo, L., Morel l i . S., Salerno, S., Piscioneri, A., Nardull i , M., Grist ina, R., d’Agostino, R., Favia, P. H2-NH3 Plasma-graft ing of PEEK-WC-PU membranes to improve their cytocompatibi l i ty with hepatocytes. Plasma Polymer and Processes 2009 DOI: ppap.200930307

− Mazzei, R., Giorno, L., Piacentini, E., Mazzuca, S., Driol i , E., Kinetic study of a biocatalyt ic membrane reactor containing immobil izer b-glucosidase for the hydrolysis of oleuropein, Journal of Membrane Science 339 (2009) 215–223

− Salerno, S., Piscioneri, A., Laera, S., Morel l i , S., Favia, P., Bader, A., Driol i , E., De Bartolo, L., Improved functions of human hepatocytes on NH3 Plasma–grafted PEEK-WC-PU membranes. Biomaterials 2009; DOI: 10.1016/ j.biomaterials.2009.04.052

− Jansen, J.C., Driol i , E., Poly(ether ether ketone) derivative membranes – a review of their preparat ion, propert ies and potential, Polymer Science Ser. A, v. 51, no. 11, in press.

− Morell i , S., Salerno, A., Piscioneri, A., Rende, M., Campana, C., De Bartolo, L., Driol i , E., Membrane bioreactors for regenerative medicine: an example of the bioart i f ic ial l iver. Asia-Pacif ic Journal of Chemical Engineering 2009. In press.

Page 2 ITM NEWS

PUBLICATIONS (from December 2008 to June 2009)

High Educational and Training Activit ies

The fol lowing students are conducting their research projects at ITM for the Doctorate on “Chemical Engineering and Materials” at the University of Calabria for the Academic Year 2009-2011 (XXIV Ciclo): − Patrizia Bafaro “Water treatment through “membrane contactors” − Eun Woo Lee “Preparation of organic solvent resistant polymeric membranes for applications in Active Pharmaceutical

Ingredients (API) purif ication” − Samuel Garcia Del Blanco “Modeling and process design of M.I.P. (Molecular Imprinted Polymers) separation systems

Prof. Heiner Strathmann is visiting ITM- CNR from June 15 to July 3, 2009 following a consolidate tradition over the past years. During his visit Prof. Strathmann is lecturing to PhD students on the following two topics : Fundamentals of mass transport in membrane processes; Preparation of membranes for mass separation and energy conversion processes. The three weeks course is performed in the framework of the Nemopur Project.

Heiner Strathmann

New PhD Students

Page 3 ITM NEWS

Visiting Scientists (January - June 2009)

Report on Visit to Inst. of Membrane Tech. & Dept. of Chemical Eng & Materials, University of Calabria, Rende, Italy, 5-20 March 2009 Submitted by Jaya Sikder, Lecturer, Department of Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Durgapur, India-713209 I visited the Institute of Membrane Technology and Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials, University of Calabria, Rende, Italy during 5-20 March 2009 under the Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme (TEQIP) of the Government of India. Prof. Enrico Drioli, director of the ITM-CNR, kindly gave me the opportunity to visit the great Institute for exposure to the world class membrane infrastructure there. Though brief, my stay in the University of Calabria was extremely fruitful. It was a unique opportunity to be acquainted with several membrane-based modern devices. I came across research activities in several membrane technology application areas in the Institute. Dr. L. Giorno, researcher, ITM-CNR and other researchers of the Institute helped me at every stage to learn about the membrane-based systems, infrastructure and about on-going research activities like synthesis and characterization of membrane, application of the membrane in different field of separation and purification e.g. biomedical field,

gas separation, waste water treatment, biofuel purification, aroma recovery, drug recovery, desalination, juice purification etc. The ITM-CNR synthesizes both the flat sheet and hollow fibre membrane. For characterization the two most important instruments on which I received some training were porositymeter (pore size distribution and analysis) and AFM (atomic force microscopy, used for morphological study). It was quite interesting to know about CHEMDRAW, the software for determination of polymer structure. Research activities under Prof. Drioli, Dr. Giorno and Dr. Alberto were all in very critical areas related to membrane technology applications and I gathered many useful information, latest developments on the concerned technology. Research activities on preparation of membrane capsules under Dr. Alberto Figoli were really interesting. Such microcapsules have wide-ranging applications in numerous fields such as pharmaceutical, chemical, textile, biomedical, environmental, petroleum and pesticide industries. I believe the discussion I had with Dr. Figoli on collaborative research will bring our two Institutes close to each other in near future and he showed interest regarding collaborative research work with our institute. Dr. Giorno’s current work on membrane-integrated bioreactor system fortunately coincides with my Ph.D. work. Her profound understanding of the subject, clear explanations of many concepts helped me to delve deeper into the subject. All my discussion with Dr. Giorno will help me in a great way in pursuing my future research. I have also visited the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials. Especially I had very useful discussion with E. Curcio. He is interested about the student exchange programme. I got the course structure of the department and came to know about admission procedure of MS and PhD programme there. Besides the scientific programme, some social activities were organised by Dr. L. Giorno and Ph.D scholar, Sudip Chakraborty, including visit to Diamante (Mediterranean Sea), Cosenza (old city in Italy), delicious lunch at Chinese Restaurant, delightful Dinner at Italian Restaurant, visit to Rome etc. The whole programme amidst rain, cold, Italian Pizza and pasta was wonderful. This visit has enlightened me on a number of very advance research areas on membrane technology. I sincerely believe that the exposure will, beyond doubt, enhance in teaching and research capability. My visit to Calabria University followed by the useful discussions will certainly pave the way for future collaborative research between our two Institutes. Finally, I would like to express my sincere thanks to Prof. Drioli, Dr. Giorno, the researchers of Membrane Institute and all members of the University of Calabria for their kind cooperation and hospitality.

Beautiful campus Delicious chinese food

Great experience with Drioli. and Dr. Giorno In Dr. Figoli’s Lab

I am Sina Zereshki an Iranian PhD student of chemical engineering at Razi University (Kermanshah, Iran). Currently I’m doing some researches on organic pervaporation cases using polymeric membranes to finalize my PhD thesis. My research stay in ITM-CNR –which I chose as one of the best membrane research institutes all over the world- is for about six months, working with Dr. Figoli. Right now I’m studying the separation of

Methanol/MTBE solutions as an industrial challenge. I have good friends, colleagues, and teachers here which are working cordially and wish health and success for all of them.

Omar Al-Harbi, Mohammed Binhussain, Sulaiman M. Alfadual, from the National Center for Water Research (NCWR) of the King Abdulaziz City for Science & Technology (KACST), an independent scientific organization of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabi have been visited ITM - CNR on February 3 -7 2009. One of the main goals of NCWR is to develop a Joint or cooperative Research and Development Program on wastewater treatment and desalination technologies (RO, Nano-Filtration, Ultrafiltration and Electrodialysis) to augment fresh water supply by developing different types of membranes desalination of seawater waters, utilizing local raw materials. Dr. Omar Al-Harbi, Director of the National Center for Water Research (NCWR), has been discussing with Prof. Drioli and various ITM researchers on the possibility of joint collaborations in areas of common interest. The possibility of realizing exchanges of researchers between the two Institutions have been also analyzed.

My name is Samuel Garcia. I come from Spain. I started my PhD 5 months ago. Last year I was an exchange student in Cosenza and finished my career in Chemistry. I knew about the scholarship for foreign students and finally was accepted here at I.T.M.- C.N.R. I’m very glad because I’m learning a lot of things about membrane technology and everybody here (coordinators, tutors, collaborators, partners, master students … ) has accepted and welcomed me very kindly. I hope to develop a project based in the use of molecularly imprinted

membranes for the removal of some genotoxins in non aqueous systems. I think these 3 years will be full of positive experiences for my life and for my future education in the chemical engineering field. For finishing I would want to acknowledge to all the people who have helped, taught, listened and supported to me in this time.

Page 4 ITM NEWS

On May 25-29, Dr. Alexander Kharitonov and Larisa Kharitonova visited the ITM laboratory in the framework of Joint grants for Italian and Russian researches (Consortium EINSTEIN and Russian Foundation for Basic Research). During their visit, the two scientists discussed with ITM researchers on the topic “Theory of Nonlinear Integrable Systems and Applications”. In addition, Dr. Kharitonov held a seminar on the various potential applications of the direct fluorination of polymer films surface. In particular, the prospective of direct fluorination of polymer dense and porous membranes were investigated. Both theoretical aspects as fluorination mechanisms and therefore morphological investigation (free-volume, etc..) of the polymeric material selected and purely experimental and applications aspects have been analyzed. Finally, this meeting also outlined the work plan related to the Joint grant project aforementioned.

My name is Ouradi Adel; I am an Assistant professor of chemistry in the University of Blida (USDB) and researcher in the University of Algiers (USTHB) from Algeria. In the framework of my PhD studies on the synthesis and characterization of microporous polymeric membranes, I have passed one month of training course at the ITM. During this training I learned new techniques for the control of the morphology and transport properties during the preparation of polysulfone microporous membranes intended for

Ultrafiltration processes. The little of time that I spent at the ITM enabled me to know several people of different nationality and to visit the pretty place surrounding this institute. It was a big opportunity for me to be in a well known and specialized laboratory in the field of membranes, and also well equipped by several techniques and populated by sympathetic and experienced persons. In addition, this training course enabled me to try new methods of characterizations and to know more about the factors influencing the process of polymeric membrane formation in general, for instance the thermodynamic properties of the ternary solvent/polymer/nonsolvent system. I thank all the research team of ITM which helped me during the period of my stay. I must particularly thank Doctor John Jansen who received me well in his laboratory and who helped me with his advice and his competences.

I am Prem Kumar Seelam, born in India, currently working as a researcher at University of Oulu, Finland. I am doing my PhD work on Hydrogen production from Bioethanol reforming for Fuel cel l applications. During my visit to ITM-CNR, Italy i.e. from Jan 2009 to March 2009 its been instrumental and foundation to learn membrane reactors in pure hydrogen production for fuel cell. I have worked under supervision of Angelo Basile's research group and conducted experiments on steam reforming of glycerol and oxidative steam reforming of ethanol using Pd-Ag dense membrane reactor. This research work is supported by ESF COST Action-543, Research and Development of Bioethanol Processing for Fuel Cells (BIOETHANOL) under STSM programme.

Luana De Lorenzo, a PhD student working in the computational group of ITM, is spending one month (June 2009) in the Soft Condensed Matter Group at Leiden Institute of Chemistry, Leiden University (The Netherlands) for conducting studies on the morphological and transport properties of polymeric blends of material with innovative properties by using mesoscale modeling. Luana De Lorenzo’s visit occurs is in the framework of a scientific collaboration which has been undertaken since last year between the ITM - CNR modelling group and the Soft Matter Chemistry laboratory in the area mesoscale modelling .

Alessio Caravella, current Research Fellow at ITM-CNR, has been granted with a post-doc training period of three years in the laboratories of the “Research Institute for Innovation in Sustainable Chemistry” of the Japanese “National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST)”, located in the city of Tsukuba. In particular, Dr. Caravella will be involved in research activities regarding innovative materials in membrane technology. The research activities will be carried out in the frame of the “Membrane Separation Processes Group”, whose group-leader is Dr. Shigeki Hara, who spent a research period in the laboratories of ITM-CNR in 2004-05.

ITM students abroad

Gaurav Sharma, Shantanu Faugaat and Amit Jain of the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi and Suryapratap Singh of the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati (India) will spend 3 months (May - July) at the ITM in the framework of a Summer

Internship Programme sponsored and financed by the University of Calabria. During this period the fourth students will be trained by the ITM researchers for completing their education in the field of membrane science and engineering.

My name is Aleksandar Kondinski and I am second year Macedonian student majoring chemistry at the Jacobs University in Bremen, Germany. At the moment I enjoy my third week of my two months summer internship at the institute. As a part of the research group of Dr. Barbieri, I keep myself busy with studying membrane reactors in the hydrogen production, especially in the context of the water gas shift reaction. I carry out experimental testes where I check the effect of the operating conditions on the performance of palladium alloy membrane modules.

Preparation of novel bio-degradable microcapsules with antimicrobial properties The Institute of Membrane Technology (ITM-CNR), in cooperation with Department of Food Science and Microbiology (DISTAM, University of Milan) has been successfully involved in the preparation of novel bio-degradable microcapsules with antimicrobial properties. Capsules of different materials can be employed for many industrial applications such as cosmetic, pharmaceutical, chemical and food packaging. In particular, micro-encapsulation is a promising technology for protecting the natural active substances from the stresses and damages that can occur during the package manufacturing, for improving the capsules distribution in film, for preventing or minimising the loss of efficacy and for modulating the water resistance of the biodegradable materials. Thanks to these effects and according to

their structure, the microcapsules could better control the release of the active substances and promote the interaction of the film with the active substances carrier. In this work, bio-microcapsules of chitosan containing propolis, which is a natural product with antimicrobial activity, have been prepared using a membrane process. The capsules size and morphology was adjusted changing the ingredient parameters such as the cross-linking concentration and tailored with the pore diameter of the mono-porous film employed. The produced micro-capsules are shown in figure 1. Furthermore, the antimicrobial activity of microcapsules was assayed either in solid and liquid cultures of microrganisms selected as dangerous for food safety and quality during storage. In Figure 2, it is shown the growth inhibition (inhibition halo) around capsules in solid culture. In particular, the preliminary results confirm that antimicrobial properties of chitosan are boosted by the presence of propolis.

1) A. Figoli, G. De Luca, E. Longavita, E. Drioli, Separation Science and Technology 42 (2007) 2809-2827 2) A. Figoli, E. Mascheroni, M. Rollini, S. Limbo, S. Talarico, L. Perigiovanni, E. Drioli, Oral presentation PERMEA 2009, Proceedings pg. 73, Prague, 7-11 June 2009.

Focus on Research at ITM

0 wt% propolis 2 wt% propolis 10 wt% propolis

Fig.1. Chitosan microcapsules loaded with different con-centration of propolis.

Fig. 2. Microrganism inhibition halo around the capsules.

Sulfonated PEEK-WC: an interesting material for applications also in PEMFCs In a Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFCs) the central component is a proton exchange membrane (PEM) which allows the transport of the protons (but not the electrons) from the anode, where they are produced in the oxidation of the fuel (typically H2 or methanol), to the cathode where the protons react with O2 to produce water. The electrons travel through the external circuit. The desirable characteristics of a PEM are: high proton conductivity, low permeability to gases (in particular H2 and O2), low permeability to methanol, absence of electronic conductivity, chemical and mechanical stability under the operative condition over long time. Currently, the most commonly used membranes for applications in PEMFCs are made of perfluorosulfonic acid polymers like Nafion (from Du Point). Nafion membranes have a high proton conductivity and an excellent chemical, thermal and mechanical stability. However, they have high costs which limit their practical applications. Moreover Nafion membranes have an elevated methanol permeability which reduces the process efficiency in direct methanol fuel cells (methanol crossover). An additional disadvantage of the Nafion membranes is the loss of proton conductivity if operated for a long period of time above 80 °C

because of dehumidification problems. In the perspective to realize novel PEMs with lower costs and improved performances, at the ITM-CNR and the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials of the University of Calabria a new engineered materials, the sulfonated derivative of an amorphous polyetheretherketone known as SPEEK-WC, is under investigation as possible alternative to Nafion membranes. SPEEK-WC polymers with different sulfonation levels have been successfully used for the preparation of dense membranes by the phase inversion technique induced by

solvent evaporation. In order to improve the performance of the SPEEK-WC based membranes, different heteropolyacids (HPAs) able to contribute to the proton transport in the solid state, have been dispersed into the membrane dope to prepare nano-hybrid membranes. One of the most important aspects of the SPEEK-WC based membranes, both polymeric and composite, is their lower permeability to methanol, O2 and H2 than commercial Nafion 117 membranes. These results are due to the lower diffusion coefficients of the permeating species in this stiff polymer. The embedding of the HPAs, in particular the silicotungstic acid (H4SiW12O40), in SPEEK-WC membranes, enhances the proton conductivity because the HPAs improve the interconnection of the ionic clusters in the polymeric matrix providing a preferential pathway for protons hopping. Moreover the proton conductivity of the SPEEK-WC membranes is more stable at higher temperature than commercial Nafion 117. [1] E. Drioli, A. Regina, M. Casciola, A. Oliveti, F. Trotta, T. Massari, J. Membrane Sci., 228 (2004) 139-148 [2] A. Regina, E. Fontananova, E. Drioli, M. Casciola, M. Sganappa, F. Trotta, J. Power Sources 160 (2006) 139–147 [3] E. Fontananova, Development of new polymeric functional membranes for applications in catalysis and fuel cells, PhD Thesis, University of Calabria (2008)

O

O

O

O

O

O

O

O

O

x y

SO3H

O

Fig 1. Chemical formula of the SPEEK-WC. For samples with sulfonation levels ≤1: 0≤x≤1 and y=1-x

Fig 2. Digital photo of a composite SPEEK-WC membrane

Page 5 ITM NEWS

Page 6 ITM NEWS

Projects meetings and related activities

On June 1st the FP7 project DoubleNanoMem has officially started. The project, with the full title Nanocomposite and Nanostructured Polymeric Membranes for Gas and Vapour Separations, is coordinated by ITM-CNR and will have a duration of 3 years. This Project is funded by the European Commission. The consortium is composed of ten research teams and enterprises from six different countries:

1. ITM-CNR, Italy (coordinator) 2. AV. Topchiev Institute on Petrochemical Synthesis, Russian Federation 3. Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands 4. Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium 5. Institute on Chemical Technology, Czech Republic 6. Università della Calabria, Italy 7. University of Manchester, United Kingdom 8. ZAO STC “Vladipor”, Russian Federation 9. Cardiff University, United Kingdom 10. Tecnoproject Industriale S.r.l., Italy The kick-off meeting, with participation of all partners and of the Scientific Officer of the European Commission, will take place on June 29-30 at the ITM laboratories and in Grand Hotel San Michele in Cetraro, near the ITM location. DoubleNanoMem will focus on new membrane materials based on high free volume polymers and functional nanosized filler particles and it will deal with most aspects of membrane development, from new polymer synthesis, membrane preparation, characterization and modelling, to module construction and large scale application tests. The activities are arranged in ten work packages. The application fields aimed at are natural gas treatment, CO2 separation from flue gas and bioethanol production. Eight ITM staff members are directly involved in the project: John Jansen (overall coordination and scientific responsible), Gabriele Clarizia (transport measurements and process simulation), Giorgio De Luca (quantum chemical simulations), Alberto Figoli (membrane preparation, pervaporation), Maria A. Liberti (project management, dissemination and public relations), Elena Tocci (molecular dynamics simulations), Franco Tasselli (hollow fibre preparation and characterization), Enzo Menna, ITM-section Padua (carbon nanotube modification). http://www.itm.cnr.it/DoubleNanoMem/

DoubleNanoMem Project - Kick-off meeting

WP4

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WP5 Transport properties

WP6 ModellingWP1

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nanofillersynthesis

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The General Assembly Meeting after the 1st year of the Coordination Support Action “NaPolyNet - Setting up research-intensive clusters across the EU on characterization of polymer nanostructures” was held on 15-16 May 2009 in Athens (Greece). The meeting was hosted by the partners of the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA ). During the meeting the report on the activities of the different Work Packages done in the first year and to be done in the 2nd and 3rd year have been presented. In particular the

competences in the different field of characterization of polymer nanostructures have been mapped and a European Open Laboratory incorporating the best and novel characterization methodologies and expertise has been set up. An international Workshop is planned on processing, structure, dynamics and properties of polymer nanostructures in order to further support development and design of intrinsically safe nanomaterials. The International Workshop will be held at the end of the third year of the project. In conjunction with the GA meeting, a demonstration (training) course entitled “Characterization methodology and tools for new polymer nanostructured materials” has been organized between May 13 and May 15, 2009 with some of the speakers being also partners in NaPolyNet project. The course aimed at training young academic and SMEs researchers in the latest methodologies and advanced tools for the characterization of Polymer Nanostructured Materials. Dr. Elena Tocci from ITM lectured on “Molecular modeling – computational analysis”. One Short Demo Visit scientific mission took place at the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA). http://www.napolynet.eu/

Napolynet

Nanoglowa The first meeting of the 3rd year of the NANOGLOWA project was held on 4-5 June in Trondheim (NO). This project, funded by the European Commission (EC) under the 6th Framework Programme, brings together universities, power plant operators, industry and SMEs. 26 organisations from 14 countries throughout Europe join the NANOGLOWA-consortium for developing optimal nanostructured membranes and installations for CO2 capture from power plants. In particular, this meeting was focused on the screening of the results obtained up to now on

the membranes supplied by the partners and on the individuation among them of the membranes giving the best performances. This was done in order to concentrate resources on the most promising membrane module combination to use in the power plants for CO2 capture from flue gas. A satisfied level of consensus was reached for two of the five types of membranes proposed in the project. The research will continue for the other three membrane types. The ITM-CNR which has the responsibility of the “central testing laboratory” of the membranes prepared by other partners devoted to the membrane development will continue the testing on other several membrane supplied by the WP1-WP5 and it will also focus the activity on a modelling/simulation phase with which will analyzes the single or multi- membrane stages performance on CO2 removal from flue gas streams. http://www.nanoglowa.com/

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The Institute on Membrane Technology (ITM-CNR) is organizing a Workshop on “Membrane Applications in Agrofood” which will be held in Cetraro (CS) – Italy on 18 - 20 October 2009. The Workshop is organized as part of the Project “Implementation of membrane technology to industry – IMeTI” funded by the European Commission in the framework of the Marie Curie Action "Industry-Academia Partnerships and Pathways" and coordinated by the Imperial College London (UK), in partnership with the ITM-CNR. The Marie Curie Industry-Academia Partnerships and Pathways scheme provides a great opportunity to transfer knowledge about new practices between industry and academia, as well as giving broad research training experience to a number of post-graduate researchers. In particular, the IMeTI Project involves the integration of the invention of new membranes and applications in the University/ Research Institute Partners with the subsequent development of the necessary membrane technology up to processing scale by the SMEs. Its overall scientific and technical scope is to make important paradigm shifts in organic solvent nanofiltration and high temperature gas separation/purification, using cutting edge technologies based on membranes. In this framework, the main purpose of the Workshop is to set the state of the art and perspectives of membranes and membrane processes in agrofood industry.

http://www.itm.cnr.it/IMeTI_Workshop/index.html

IMeTI The review meeting of the IMeTI project was held on Tuesday, 20th January 2009 in Bologna. Representatives of all partners attended the event: Anne Julbe (CNRS, France), Agnessa Nikolova (UCTM, Bulgaria), Rinse A. Terpstra (CEPAration, The Netherlands), Shengfu Zhang (MET, UK), Ludmila Peeva and Angela Lonergan (Imperial College, UK), Nino Gaeta (GVS, Italy) and Giuseppe Barbieri (ITM-CNR). During the meeting all partners discussed on various technical and scientific aspects of the project and also on the

organization of the two forthcoming 2-days workshops. The first one on “Membrane Applications in Agrofood” will be organized in Cetraro (Italy) by ITM-CNR, while the second on “Inorganic membrane technology: advanced production and designs” will be held in 2010 and organized by CNRS. http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/membranetechnology

IMeTI Workshop, 18 - 20 October 2009

Nemopur The 2nd NEMOPUR project meeting was held in Dortmund University on Thursday 23 April 2009. The meeting was divided in two sections, the first one was attended only by the Project Management Board. In the second one NEMOPUR Researchers were invited to join the rest of the meeting. During the first section the Project Management Board discussed the Model Systems as Technology Challenges which had been proposed at the first NEMOPUR Project Meeting in October 2008. Following that meeting, a number of

suggestions were provided by project leaders in relation to model systems for the NEMOPUR project. These suggestions were summarised and Prof. Andrew Livingston presented the ideas to the group. The group discussed these suggestions with the aim of agreeing on at least 4 model systems as technology challenges which ideally should be readily amenable to analysis and be able to publish results in open literature. The four model systems identified were: 1. Genotoxin removal – acetamide from acetonitrile hydrolysis 2. Genotoxin removal – ethyl mesylate 3. Metals removal – Pd +(R,R) RuCl2-BINAP DAIPEN 4. System involving solvent swaps The Partners gave an update on the Early Stage Researcher recruitment status: At ITM-CNR the following two ESRs had been appointed: Eun Woo Lee, ESR (joined 01/11/08); Samuel Garcia Del Blanco, ESR (joined 01/11/08) The Project management team formally approved the above mentioned NEMOPUR appointments. Opportunities are available as follows: MIP Technologies AB, Lund, Sweden; Hovione Farmaciencia SA, Lisbon, Portugal; UCB PHARMA S.A., Braine, Belgium; Lonza Limited, Visp, Switzerland The project management team clarified some point regarding allowances for the Researchers, project budgets and payments. After this, the second section of the meeting was started and the NEMOPUR Researchers were invited to join. Each researcher was invited to present their results, progress and plans for the next 6 months. This session which lasted over two hours provided a useful insight into plans and progress at different sites and opportunities for collaboration and synergies were discussed and agreed. The project participants visited the INFU (Institut für Umweltschutz - Technische Universität Dortmund) laboratory facilities, led by Professor Borje Sellergren The next NEMOPUR project meeting will take place on Friday 23 October 2009 at GSK, Stevenage. A two day course on API Production for all researchers will be held in Stevenage on 21 and 22nd October 2009. The Consortium was scheduled to hold the first business development Seminar led by the NEMOPUR end users on or around month 20. It was suggested and agreed that a joint course with another FP6 RTN could be held in Porto at the end of the year (December 2009). http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/molecularpurification

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The ITM News is published by the Institute of Membrane Technology of the Italian National Research Council. Prepared by: Maria A. Liberti Istituto per la Tecnologia delle Membrane (ITM-CNR) Via P. Bucci 17/C, c/o Università della Calabria 87030 Rende (CS) - Italia Ph.: +39 0984 492007, Fax: +39 0984 402103 e-mail: m.liberti@itm.cnr.it, www.itm.cnr.it

Istituto per la Tecnologia delle Membrane (ITM-CNR)

Via P. Bucci 17/C c/o University of Calabria 87030 Rende (CS) - Italy

Tel.: +39 0984 492050/402706 Fax: +39 0984 402103 E-mail: l.giorno@itm.cnr.it

The European Federation Regenerative Medicine was initiated as an interest group to get together the European societies networks and infrastructures in the field with the purpose of creating a well interconnected research community in this field. Loredana De Bartolo and Enrico Drioli are founding representatives among other experts.

European Federation Regenerative Medicine

Miscellaneous

Erasmus Mundus External Cooperation Window - India The Erasmus Mundus External Cooperation Window for India (Reference EACEA 08/35) has just been approved and funded by the European Commission. The EM ECW objective is to to foster institutional cooperation in the field of higher education between the European Union and India through mobility schemes addressing student and academic exchanges for the purpose of studying, teaching, training and research. The consortium `EURINDIA´ will establish a mobility of 201 individuals from reputed Indian Higher Education institutions and research centres to the European partner universities and viceversa. The European University partners are located in eight different countries including the new member state (Czech Republic) and one EEA country (Turkey). The other partners are located in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden. Among the eight partners from India, five are located in large cities (Pune, Bangalore, Roorkee, Chennai and Coimbatore). The rest are from the less developed states (Assam, West Bengal and Bihar). There are two associates from India (Hyderabad and Pune) one from Europe, Italy (ITM-CNR, Rende). The duration of the project is of 48 months. The project coordinator is the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) of Stockholm (Sweden). Dr. Alberto Figoli will serve as Principal Investigator for ITM.

It has been announced that on 4 - 6 September, 2009, the EU-CHINA Workshop on Membrane-Based Desalination: An Integrated Approach (acronym MEDINA) will be organized at the Academic Exchange Centre of Ocean University of China in Qingdao (CHINA). The Workshop will offer the opportunity for professionals, experts, scientists and researchers involved and/or interested in the development of desalination to attend this event dedicated to the dissemination of final results of the MEDINA project. The event will be chaired by Prof. Enrico Drioli, Project Coordinator and Prof. Congjie Gao of the Development Center of Water, Treatment Technology, SOA, Hangzhou, CHINA.

EU-CHINA Workshop Membrane-Based Desalination: An Integrated Approach (MEDINA)

On November 1-3, 2009 a Training Course on "Membrane Engineering in Water Treatments and Water Reuse" is going to be organized in Weihai, China. The Training Course follows a series of events already organized in Weihai and aims to strengthen the collaboration already established between China and Europe, to encourage research mobility and to promote the participation of Chinese institutions in projects sponsored by the European Union. . The Course will be organized by the Institute on Membrane Technology, the Harbin Institute of Technology at Weihai and the Weihai Science & Technology Exchange Center with Foreign Countries. As in previous occasions, experts coming from the academic and industrial world, will lecture on different aspects of membrane science and technology field.

Training Course, Weihai (China)

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