The performance of advanced separation processes (based on membranes and sorbents) are often bottle-necked by the nanostructures and functionalities of the innovative nanomaterials, which need to be tailored to meet the performance and cost targets of ensuring the carbon/hydrogen/energy efficiency-dependent bioeconomy. Recovery of biooil and water-soluble oxygenated hydrocarbon molecules and targeted removal of impurities (such as carbonyl molecules or nitrogen compounds) are examples that are critical to biorefineries. Molecular separations of liquid or vapor mixtures require the nanoscale control of material structures and the tailoring of surface/interfacial functionality chemistry. In this work, surface-engineered (superhydrophobic) nanoporous inorganic membranes were developed to provide several orders of magnitude higher flux in phase separation of biooil-water emulsions and pervaporation or aqueous solutions such as fermentation broth. On the other hand, novel ceramic-polymer hybrid materials with/without composited nanoparticles (such as graphene oxide or covalent organic frameworks) are being developed to dewater and concentrate the aqueous solutions that contain oxygenated hydrocarbon molecules (such as carboxylic acid from thermochemical conversion pathways or 2,3-butanediol from biochemical fermentation pathway), desalination, or organic solvent separations. <br/>

Nanomaterials for molecular separations to improve biomass processing to biofuels and chemicals

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

[Author Benefits](https://scimeetings.acs.org/?utm_source=pubs_content_marketing&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=0320_MCF_NPI_Launch_Spring_Homepage&ref=pubs_content_marketing)

[How to use SciMeetings](https://storage.googleapis.com/dl.morressier.com/acs/SciMeetings-ACSSpring2020-HowToGuide_M3020-Final.pdf)

[Frequently Asked Questions](https://storage.googleapis.com/dl.morressier.com/acs/SciMtng_ACSNMSp2020_FAQ_M3120_Final.pdf)

ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.