Engineers from the Department have developed an ultrathin membrane that is both extremely permeable & very strong. The study was published in Science.

Exciting new research carried out in Andrew Livingston’s group in the Department of Chemical Engineering has been published in Science, one of the world’s top scientific journals. In the study the researchers produced ultrathin (<10 nm) synthetic membranes that can filter small molecules from organic solutes. These nanofilms are extremely permeable, yet very strong. Possible applications of the membranes include purifying organic mixtures in industries such as pharmaceuticals, manufacturing and oil refining.

The researchers involved were Santanu Karan, Zhiwei Jiang and Andrew Livingston.

The paper was published in the 19 June 2015 issue of Science:

Sub–10 nm polyamide nanofilms with ultrafast solvent transport for molecular separation; Santanu Karan, Zhiwei Jiang, Andrew G. Livingston.

A Perspective article on the paper was included in the same issue:

Outperforming nature's membranes; Viatcheslav Freger.

Imperial College issued a press release and video to accompany the publication:

'Crumpled' filter has potential to slash energy consumption in industry

The study was also covered by a number of news outlets and trade publications:

• Ultra-thin membranes for solute separation (ChemistryWorld)
• Crumpled membrane offers superstrong separation (The Chemical Engineer)
• New membrane is ultra-thin and super-strong (The Chemical Engineer)
  
• Polymer membrane makes good nanofilter (Nanotechweb.org)
• New development technique requires less energy to create nanofilms (Phys.org)
• 'Crumpled' Filter to Slash Energy Consumption (Technology Networks)
• 'Crumpled' filter has potential to slash energy consumption in industry (ScienceDaily)
• Reports suggest wrinkles are good, at least for thin film ceramic membranes (The American Ceramic Society)
  
• Novo sistema de filtragem pode reduzir consumo energético industrial (wikienergia.pt)
  
• ’Crumpled’ filter has potential to slash energy consumption in industry (myScience)
• Science breakthrough: The power of wrinkles (Energy & Environment management)
• Ultra-Thin Filter Has Potential to Cut Energy Consumption in Industry (Scicasts)
• Energy Consumption Of Certain Industries Could Be Reduced With 'Crumpled' Filter (Headlines & Global News (HNGN.com))
• Ultra-thin membranes for solute separation (Chem-Report)
  
• ‘Crumpled Filter’ has Potential to Slash Energy Consumption in Industry (Genesis Nanotech)
  
• A super-strong membrane for industrial filtration (LabOnline.com.au)
  
• Ultra-thin membrane could cut industrial energy consumption (Electronic specifier)