Abstract:
Membrane technology is crucial for advancing the industry’s sustainability and achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals. However, there are sustainability challenges within the membrane fabrication industry that need to be addressed. This dissertation explores two approaches to enhance the environmental sustainability of membrane fabrication: (1) the use of bio-based materials, and (2) enabling recyclability by design. In the first approach, a bio-based solvent system composed of thymol and vanillin was proposed for the first time for the solution processing of poly(ethylene furanoate) (PEF), a promising bio-based polymer derived from lignocellulosic biomass. In the second approach, the end-of-life challenges of solvent-resistant membranes were addressed through a dynamic, reversible disulfide-based crosslinking strategy. The results obtained from implementing these approaches demonstrate how the selection of bio-based materials and design for circularity can drive the development of new membrane fabrication strategies and support the transition toward a more sustainable membrane industry.

Bio:
Malinalli Ramírez Martínez is a PhD candidate in the Nanostructured Polymeric Membranes Lab. With a background in Chemical Engineering and Environmental Science and Engineering, she has focused her work on implementing sustainable strategies for polymeric membrane preparation.