Doha: Scientists backed by a Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF) grant have joined forces to develop the next generation of filters. The group’s work in generating polymer materials that act as high-performance gas filters was recently published in Nature Communications.
These filters will have the potential to capture carbon dioxide emitted from power stations and, in turn, prevent possible contamination of the environment. Initial findings suggest that it is possible to create membranes that filter a range of substances on a ‘nano’, or microscopic scale. Filters are a part of our everyday lives, they are utilised in everything from a spaghetti strainer to screens on windows. In their simplest form, filters keep debris out of air and water. Yet as filter technology advances, so does the level of precision around what they can help keep out.
The investigating team of this QNRF-facilitated research is led by Dr Shaheen Al Muhtaseb, Associate Professor in Chemical Engineering at Qatar University, and Dr Easan Sivaniah, Advanced Research Fellow in the Cavendish Laboratory and soon-to-be associate professor at Kyoto University. The two parties have successfully collaborated on a series of high-impact research observations in the last two years, including widely publicised research in Nature Materials last year, on the discovery of a new nanoporation mechanism called Collective Osmotic Shock. QNA
