Research Projects

India is a major market for spiral-wound membrane modules for water desalination, purification, and molecular separation. However, more research and development are needed to produce composite membranes on roll-to-roll and their spiral-wound modules to enhance self-reliance and sustainability in separation processes. The proposal aims to develop highly crosslinked polymer nanofilm composite membranes via kinetically controlled interfacial polymerization on a roll-to-roll, achieving high liquid permeance with specific MWCO for industrial applications in desalination and molecular separation. The interfacial polymerization condition will be optimized for upscaled with the roll-to-roll membrane production line. Spiral-wound modules will be designed for three applications: nanofiltration for desalination and brine processing, nanofiltration with varying molecular weight cut-off for efficient molecular separation for wastewater treatment, and seawater desalination with extremely high rejection of NaCl (99% and above). The specific industrial application potential of high-specification membranes in the form of spiral-wound modules will be highlighted.