Source: BIO NANO INSIDER Newsletter - Published by the Italian Trade Commission of Los Angeles
Contact: losangeles@losangeles.ice.it

University of Calabria Researchers Pioneer Solutions for a Range of Environmental Challenges

With their ability to filter chemicals on a nano-scale, membranes have the potential to help solve many of today’s most pressing ecological problems, from cleaning waste water to producing the purest hydrogen for fuel cells. That is why in 2002 the Italian National Research Council (ITM-CNR) founded the Institute for Membrane Technologies at the University of Calabria.

Home to nearly 100 researchers, the Institute has spawned a high-tech cluster around the University, which is located in a predominantly rural area in southern Italy. It serves as the nation’s only institute dedicated to membrane science, and is considered one of the world’s leading centers focused on membranes and new eco-focused applications.

Membranes are nanostructured objects with porous or dense characteristics that make them permeable only to certain chemicals. These characteristics enable membranes to intensify and accelerate processes that naturally occur over a prolonged period of time.

For example, certain membranes can desalinate sea water to make it drinkable without resorting to thermal processes. This is accomplished via a process called reverse osmosis, in which pressure is used to force the water through a membrane that retains the sodium chloride.

Another example involves making waste water clean enough to drink through the use of submerged membrane bioreactors that transform organic components into inorganic matter. This process applies the latest membrane bioreactor technology to accelerate the natural water cycle. Other types of membranes can purify liquid foods without the need for pasteurization, and can filter air to separate and capture carbon dioxide.

Research at the Institute ranges from laboratory-scale membrane preparation and testing to the design of entire processes based on membrane operations. The main focus is on catalytic membranes and catalytic membrane reactors, inorganic membranes, bioanalytic membranes and enzyme membrane reactors.

In addition, the Institute is pioneering new membrane applications for artificial organs that could facilitate the development of new drugs without the need for human or animal testing. Researchers are working on an artificial liver, pancreas and even a brain. Such hybrid organs composed from a polymer membrane and hepatic, pancreatic or neuron cells, would enable drug developers to monitor the effects of new compounds on living matter.

As explained by Professor Enrico Drioli, Director of the Institute for Membrane Technology, the use of membranes on a wide scale can help solve ecological problems through “process intensification” – a term that describes the ability of membrane bioreactors in nanostructured material to intensify and accelerate processes that happen in nature. He believes that beyond today’s membrane science, futuristic technologies such as artificial organs hold great promise for improving healthcare and society as a whole.

For more information, contact Professor Drioli at e.drioli@itm.cnr.it