Nanopapers for organic solvent nanofiltration

What is it about?

Organic Solvent Nanofiltration (OSN) is a process to isolate very small compounds or even molecules (e.g. pharmaceuticals) from the solvent in which they have been synthesized. The advantage of this process as compared to e.g. distillation is that it is connected to much lower energy consumption and that the compounds experiences milder conditions thus avoiding damage to the compound. We have developed membranes for OSN based only on cellulose, the most abundant renewable resource on earth.

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Why is it important?

OSN usually needs very sophisticated materials that can withstand organic solvents. Complicated polymer structures or ceramics are mostly employed which need a lot of energy, solvents and chemicals to be produced. We have used a process that is as simple as papermaking to produce membranes capable of OSN operations from a renewable resource that can be easily composted or combusted after use and thus producing no waste.