Funded Projects

Project title: Green Zwitterionic and Photocatalytic Phase Separation Polymeric Membranes Utilizing Amino Acids for Total Remediation of Bacterial Pollution in Wastewater

Allocated funding: NT$ 4,200,000 and 1,086,607

Duration of the project: 2024.08.01~2027.07.31

Brief summary of the objectives of the project: The primary objective of this research proposal is to engineer environmentally friendly membranes with integrated catalytic and antifouling functionalities for the comprehensive remediation of bacteria in water systems. The research aims to leverage the properties of hydrophobic common polymers, and commercially available copolymers, by blending them with environmentally benign catalyst in green solvents. Additionally, the membranes will undergo functionalization with selected amino acids to enhance their antifouling properties.

Potential Impacts on Society:

1-The development of membranes with advanced antibacterial properties contributes to improved water quality, addressing a critical global concern for access to clean and safe water resources.

2-The use of green and environmentally-friendly materials aligns with sustainability goals, minimizing the environmental impact of water treatment processes and ensuring the safe discharge of treated water.

Potential Impacts on Economy:

1-The research introduces innovative membrane technologies that integrate catalytic and antifouling functionalities, potentially creating new avenues for economic growth and technological advancements in the water treatment industry.

2-The development of membranes using green and cost-effective materials may open up new markets for sustainable water treatment solutions, creating economic opportunities for industries involved in membrane production and water treatment.

Potential Impacts on Academic Development:

1-The research proposal outlines a comprehensive investigation involving membrane fabrication processes, functionalization techniques, and systematic characterization. This contributes to the academic understanding of membrane technology and its applications.

2-The collaborative nature of the project involving a team of researchers at different academic levels (PhD, MSc, BSc) fosters knowledge exchange and collaborative learning experiences, enhancing academic development among team members. The findings of the research will lead to publications and knowledge dissemination, further contributing to the academic community's understanding of sustainable water treatment technologies.

Taiwan Education Experience Program

Funder: Ministry of Education

Grant number: /

Project title: Engineering membranes for the removal of bacteria and emerging pollutants from water

Allocated funding: NT$ 180,000

Duration of the project: 2025.04.01~2025.12.31

Brief summary of the objectives of the project: In our pursuit of sustainable, efficient, and environmentally friendly solutions for wastewater, we recognize the need for pioneering methods. This project, funded by the Taiwan Education Experience Program (TEEP), seeks to investigate the design of membranes for the removal of bacteria and their degradation from water on the one hand, and for the removal of perfluorooctanoic acid emerging pollutant on the other hand, both with the aim to improve the decontamination processes of wastewater.

Incorporating photocatalysts into vapor-induced phase separation (VIPS) membranes could significantly enhance the system's selectivity, effectively neutralizing any bacterial species that may penetrate the membrane, all while preserving permeability. However, to reduce biofouling interactions between the photocatalytic membrane reactor (PMR) and bacterial species from the filtration process, it seems essential to include an antifouling material. Given current environmental imperatives, developing green, zwitterionic modifications holds promise, particularly through amino acid-based enhancements, though this approach remains underexplored.

The properties of VIPS membranes can be finely tuned by adjusting key process parameters during preparation, such as relative humidity, exposure time to non-solvent vapors, and chamber temperature. By modifying these variables, the surface pore size and wettability can be optimized to make VIPS membranes highly suitable for direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD). Despite limited studies on this approach, VIPS membranes show significant potential for the treatment of wastewater containing emerging pollutants. This straightforward, single-step preparation process enables the achievement of superhydrophobicity, which may result in an ideal balance between flux and separation efficiency.

This project, therefore, seeks to develop a platform of VIPS membranes all based on PVDF, an affordable material that dissolves in green solvents. The first type of PVDF membranes, used for PMR application, will be combined with styrene maleic anhydride, compatible with amine- or hydroxyl-bearing materials in green solvents, and tungsten trioxide, a visible-light-responsive photocatalyst that can be synthesized sustainably for bacterial degradation. The base membranes will also undergo dip-coating for functionalization with a variety of water-soluble zwitterionic materials, to endow the membranes with enhanced antifouling properties. The second type of membrane, for DMCD application, will also be prepared using green solvents. If superhydrophobicity can be reached without any additive, it will be used as is. Otherwise, nanoparticles will be added to the polymer/solvent blend prior to membrane casting.

For our collaborative internship program, we intend to offer international students a diverse enriching research experience, fostering global connections and enabling students to make significant contributions to the scientific community.

Current Project as a co-Investigator

Plasma Enrichment of Platelets ("Plasmotic" project) with Forward Osmosis Membranes

Funder: National Science & Technology Council

Grant number: 112-2923-E-033 -001 -MY4

Project title: Development of a forward osmosis process for platelet enrichment of plasma (研究用於血漿富集血小板的正向滲透程序開發)

Allocated funding: NT$ 6,700,000

Duration of the project: 2023.01.01~2026.12.31

Brief summary of the objectives of the project: The project's objective is to develop an alternative method to centrifugation for producing Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) through membrane separation. The separation relies on forward osmosis and ultrafiltration. It aims for a "gentle" separation, thus avoiding platelet activation. By preventing platelet activation during the concentration phase, the separation process is expected to yield high concentrations of growth factors, even at low platelet concentrations. This, in turn, should enhance the therapeutic efficiency of the produced PRP.

Recently Completed Projects as the Principal Investigator

Development of Green Membranes by VIPS

Funder: National Science & Technology Council (former Ministry of Science and Technology), Taiwan

Grant number: MOST 110-2221-E-033-003-MY3, NSTC 111-2811-E-033-003 and NSTC 112-2811-E-033-001 (postdoctoral grants)

Project title: Investigating the formation of antifouling VIPS membranes using green solvents (研究使用綠色環保溶劑以蒸氣誘導相分離法控制抗生物沾黏薄膜的結構成形)
Allocated funding: NT$ 3,969,000, NT$ 982,260 and NT$ 996,480

Duration of the project: 2021.08.01~2024.07.31

Brief summary of the objectives of the project: The VIPS process is suitable to control the formation of porous membranes, and enables to readily fabricate antifouling membranes in one step. However, the formation of green membranes by the VIPS process has not been reported. We propose to investigate this specific direction applied to the formation of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) membranes. Once able to control the formation of these membranes using green/greener solvents, the main objective of year 1, we will then tackle the formation of antifouling PEGylated (year 2) and zwitterionic (year 3) green PVDF membranes. The objectives of this 3-year project are schematized below:

Taiwan Education Experience Program

Funder: Ministry of Education

Grant number: /

Project title: Advances in Membrane Engineering: Formation Mechanisms and Applications: Exploring the Multifaceted Applications of Antifouling Zwitterionic or PEGylated Polymeric Membranes for Resisting a Variety of Foulants in Wastewater

Allocated funding: NT$ 151,200

Duration of the project: 2024.05.20~2024.11.20

Brief summary of the objectives of the project: In our pursuit of sustainable, efficient, and environmentally friendly solutions for wastewater and oil-water separation, we recognize the need for pioneering methods. This proposal in the frame of the Taiwan Education Experience Program (TEEP) seeks to investigate the multifaceted applications of antifouling zwitterionic and PEGylated polymeric membranes to resist a wide range of foulants in wastewater, encompassing biological foulants like microalgae, bacteria, proteins, and organic foulants such as oils.

The main objective is to design and fabricate polymeric membranes, ranging from microfiltration to ultrafiltration, imbued with antifouling properties by incorporating zwitterions or PEGylated copolymers, achieved through surface or bulk modifications.

We anticipate that this endeavor will significantly enhance the efficiency of foulant rejection and minimize fouling, thereby contributing to the sustainability and cost-effectiveness of wastewater treatment, all while reducing the environmental footprint by employing eco-friendly solvents in the membrane production process.

The project encompasses five key phases: (i) the structural design of polymeric membranes using various phase inversion techniques, with a focus on fine-tuning membrane morphology; (ii) the synthesis of antifouling copolymers, emphasizing the design and manipulation of chemical properties to ensure efficacy against diverse foulants; (iii) the modification of the polymeric membrane using the synthesized copolymer through surface modifications such as coating and grafting, and the bulk modification via in situ approach; (iv) the analysis and characterization of the membranes’ physical and chemical properties; and (v) the application of these membranes in wastewater treatment, assessing their antifouling abilities towards both biological and oil-based foulants.

Throughout the internship program for international students, we provide comprehensive hands-on laboratory training and extensive lectures on the underlying principles involving membranes and antifouling topic.

The project's budget is allocated to cover materials, reagents for membrane fabrication and polymer synthesis, and the organization of intern training.

Study on the Versatility of VIPS Membranes

Funder: Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan

Grant number: MOST 109-2628-E-033-001-MY3 and MOST 110-2811-E-033-502 (postdoctoral grant)

Project title: Exploring the potential of antifouling zwitterionic VIPS membranes and their wide spectrum of applications in water and biomedical fields (研究以蒸氣誘導相分離程序製備抗污染之兩性離子薄膜並拓展其於水處理與生醫領域的應用) - Outstanding young researcher project

Allocated funding: NT$ 4,961,000 and NT$ 956,400

Duration of the project: 2020.08.01~2023.07.31

Brief summary of the objectives of the project: In this project, we proposed to demonstrate the versatility of vapor-induced phase separation (VIPS) antifouling zwitterionic membranes, by designing a series of membranes for water-related and biomedical applications. VIPS is a preparation process for polymeric membranes which has been underestimated, compared to more common wet-immersion, despite the outstanding control it enables to gain over membrane structure. Provided the use of zwitterionic materials, VIPS membranes can be made resistant to nonspecific biofouling. Common procedures are surface modification methods but in-situ modification of VIPS membranes is also doable, using proper polymer/copolymer/solvent blend. This one-step process can arise in the formation of antifouling membranes with bi-continuous structure and controlled pore size/porosity making it suitable for wastewater cleaning, gravity-driven emulsion breaking, blood cell selection or even wound healing. Challenges that we tackle in the frame of this proposal concern (1) the development of zwitterionic copolymers soluble with common polymers for membrane formation (poly(vinylidene fluoride) or polysulfone), (2) the understanding and control of membrane physicochemical properties and (3) the use of membranes in a wide spectrum of applications, in order to shed light on the tremendous potential of VIPS membranes. This project is at the crossroad of several disciplines; therefore, the outcome should be of interest to numerous scientists in the fields of material science, polymer chemistry, membrane engineering and biomedical engineering.

Polyethersulfone Membranes - Correlations Between their Formation Mechanisms and their Final Properties

Funder: Sartorius Stedim Biotech, Germany

Grant number: 1080530

Project title: Study of polyethersulfone membrane formation mechanisms: understanding membrane performances from the knowledge of casting solution properties.

Allocated funding: 83,457 €/year

Duration of the project: 2020.02.01~2022.01.31

Brief summary of the objectives of the project: The main purpose of this industrial project was to determine potential correlations between the casting solution properties and the final properties of polyethersulfone membranes prepared by the wet-immersion process, and using different types of solvents. This project was divided into 8 major tasks, during which membrane formation mechanisms and the systems' rheological properties were thoroughly investigated, and then correlated with the permeability/rejection via the membrane morphology and arising properties (pore size, porosity).

Fine-tuning Membrane Pore Size During Phase Inversion: 1 Casting Solution - > 3 Membranes - > Complete Wastewater Treatment

Funder: Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan

Grant number: MOST 107-2221-E-033-019-MY3 and MOST 109-2811-E-033-502 (postdoctoral grant)

Project title: Design of a single-integrated filtration system with multiscale antifouling NF, UF, and MF membranes for complete versatile wastewater treatment (設計多維尺度奈濾、超濾與微濾抗污高分子薄膜之單一整合過濾系統於多樣廢水處理研究)

Allocated funding: NT$ 3,130,000 and NT$ 925,755

Duration of the project: 2018.08.01~2021.07.31

Brief summary of the objectives of the project: During this project, we worked on the design of a series of three antifouling membranes with distinct pore size range (MF, UF, NF) by in-situ modification, from one single polymer/copolymer/solvent system, and using various phase-inversion processes. The goal was to prove that all 3 membranes could be prepared from a same blend (without changing any formulation parameter) and by phase-inversion only (no post-treatment). The obtained membranes were successfully applied in a 3-stage filtration process that permitted to recover synthetic wastewater made of microorganisms and proteins of various sizes.

Membranes for the Gravity-driven Breaking of Emulsions

Funder: Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan

Grant number: MOST 106-2628-E-033-002-MY3

Project title: Design of membranes with super-wetting properties for the gravity-separation of oil-in-water and water-in-oil emulsions (設計超潤濕性薄膜系統於油中水型與水中油型乳化液之重力過濾研究) - Outstanding young researcher project

Allocated funding: NT$ 4,056,000

Duration of the project: 2017.08.01~2020.07.31

Brief summary of the objectives of the project: The aim of this project was to develop membranes with super-wettability that could break oil-rich or water-rich emulsions, by gravity-driven filtration. We also explored the possibilities to break emulsions regardless of the nature of the dispersing/dispersed phase. Membranes were applied to the recovery of synthetic emulsions containing vegetable oil but also diesel oil. We mostly worked with membranes prepared by VIPS, but also tested electrospun membranes as well as membranes prepared by a dual-bath procedure.

Formation Mechanisms and Performances of Low-Biofouling VIPS Membranes

Funder: Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan

Grant number: MOST 104-2221-E-033-066-MY3

Project title: Vapor-induced phase separation process for designing ultra-lowfouling membranes: insights into the formation mechanisms, characterization and performances (以蒸汽誘導相分離程序設計低生物結垢薄膜：膜成形機制、鑒定與效能之學理探究

Allocated funding: NT$ 3,378,000

Duration of the project: 2015.08.01~2018.07.31

Brief summary of the objectives of the project: The objectives of this project were to evaluate the effect of different low-biofouling copolymers on the mechanisms of formation of VIPS membranes, and to investigate the low-biofouling properties of the resulting membranes. In this project, we extensively used a series of copolymers made of polystyrene (anchoring units) and poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate (PEGMA), which we referred to as PS-co-PEGMA. Random, diblock but also triblock copolymers were synthesized and then used in blend with polyvinylidene fluoride. Efforts were oriented towards the characterization of the effect of PS-co-PEGMA on the thermodynamic stability of the casting solutions, but also on the kinetics of phase inversion. Biofoulants used were a wide variety of proteins (bovine serum albumin, lysozyme, fibrinogen, globulin...), bacteria and whole blood.

Effect of non-solvent activity on the structure of VIPS membranes

Funder: National Science Council, Taiwan

Grant number: NSC 103-2221-E-033-074-

Project title: Insights into the formation mechanisms of PVDF and modified PVDF membranes by vapor-induced phase separation process using a low nonsolvent activity or a gradient of non-solvent activity – Application to the design of novel anti-biofouling membranes (抗生物結垢聚偏氟乙烯薄膜之創新結構設計與其膜成形機制之科學觀點探討-製備,鑑定與應用)

Allocated funding: NT$ 1,115,000

Duration of the project: 2014.08.01~2015.07.31

Brief summary of the objectives of the project: This 1-year project aimed to assess the effect of non-solvent activity on the structure of polyvinylidene-based membranes prepared by vapor-induced phase separation. The non-solvent activity was either kept constant or changed along the course of the membrane formation process. Different structures, from dense to highly porous with controlled pore sizes could be prepared, which laid the foundations for the next projects on VIPS membranes and their applications.

Recently Completed Projects as a co-Investigator

Membranes for Protein Separation from Whole Blood

Funder: Minsitry of Science and Technology, Taiwan /Agence Nationale de la Recherche, France

Grant number: MOST 107-2923-E-033-001-, MOST 108-2923-E-033-001-, MOST 109-2923-E-033-001-, MOST 110-2923-E-033-001-:

Project title: Membrane for prOtein Separation with designed Architecture of bioInterface at nanosCale (MOSAIC-3D) (設計具奈米尺度生物界面結構之薄膜系統於蛋白質分離研究

Allocated funding: NT$ 1,936,000 (year 2) NT$ 2,191,000 (year 3), NT$ 2,087,900 (year 4)

Duration of the project: 2018.01.01~2021.12.31

Brief summary of the objectives of the project: This project, co-funded by the MOST (TAIWAN) and ANR (France) brought for the second time teams from the RDCMT in Taiwan and from the "Laboratoire de Genie Chimique (more about this lab here)" in Toulouse, France. The goal of the project was to fabricate biomedical membranes able to separate proteins from blood. For this, copolymers were designed able to specifically interact with blood proteins. These polymers were coated on the surface of membranes.

Membranes for the Separation of Oil and Water from Emulsions (O/W or W/O)

Funder: Minsitry of Science and Technology, Taiwan /Agence Nationale de la Recherche, France

Grant number: MOST 106-2923-E-033-001-MY4

Project title: Nano-Structured Membranes with Controlled Surface Properties for Efficient Oil-Water Emulsion Separation (控制奈米結構化薄膜表面性質於高效油水乳化液之分離)

Allocated funding: NT$ 8,794,000

Duration of the project: 2017.01.01~2020.12.31

Brief summary of the objectives of the project: This project, co-funded by the MOST (TAIWAN) and ANR (France) brought together teams from the RDCMT in Taiwan and from the "European Membrane Institute (more about this lab here)" in Montpellier, France. The goal of the project was to fabricate membranes able to break oil-in-water (O/W) or water-in-oil (W/O) emulsions. The span of applications of membranes prepared in the frame of this project was quite large, from wastewater treatment (O/W) to the purification of diesel (W/O, automobile industry), the recovery of sludges (W/O, petroleum industry) or the removal of solvent (O/W) in vegetable oil-industry.

Development of Antifouling Membranes for Water Treatment

Funder: Minsitry of Science and Technology, Taiwan /Agence Nationale de la Recherche, France

Grant number: MOST 106-2923-E-033-001-MY4

Project title: Super Non-Adhesive Membranes for Sustainable Water Treatment (以蒸氣誘導式相分離成膜程序製備含聚乙二醇酯共聚物之低生物結垢薄膜)

Duration of the project: 2013.01.01~2015.12.31

Brief summary of the objectives of the project: This project, co-funded by the MOST (TAIWAN) and ANR (France), aimed to fabricate antifouling membranes by various strategies, and gain insight into fouling mechanisms and fouling characterization. Two teams were formed, one at the RDCMT in Taiwan and the other one from the "Laboratoire de Genie Chimique (more about this lab here)" in Toulouse, France.

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