ORALS

Affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32816 Keywords: Graphene Oxide, Biomimetic, nanopores, water purification Recent advances in synthetic membranes allow their use in fields as diverse as food and agriculture, industrial water treatment, potable water production and biotechnology. Among the newly developed technologies, nanofiltration for liquids and more particularly for desalination of seawater or saline aquifers is the most recent one. However, current solid-state membranes are limited, which calls for the development of novel formulations for new membranes offering both high permeability (ion and water flux) and ion differentiation (selectivity) that are usually considered antagonist features. We report on the strategic development of hybrid nanoporous membranes made of a solid-state track-etched polymeric thin film and graphene oxide as supports in which biological ion channel such as Gramicidin A, alpha-hemolysin and ion selective binding peptide motifs are confined, respectively. These bioinspired and biomimetic solid-state membranes are attracting widespread attention since they offer several advantages including mechanical robustness, scalable, controlled pore dimension and shape, modifiable surfaces for desired function and energy-efficiency, for water sustainability. The permeability and selective ion transport will be evaluated via ion diffusion kinetics, UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy and nanofiltration while gaining insights into the role of key performance parameters including track-etch pore size, surface chemistry, and ion binding through nanochannels for water purification. The proposed activity positively impacts the environment by integrating ecofriendly materials design, development and deployment.