Grant: Collaborative Research and Development Grants

The proposed research will develop experimental expertise at Queen's for testing of graphene oxide membranesas a water filtration system. The long term goal is to develop a system capable of reliably filtering tritium fromheavy water. A computational modelling study will support the research, with the goal of determining theunderlying mechanism for the filtration. This modelling effort will guide a process of optimisation of themembrane through functional additions.Eventually, nuclear reactors must be de-commissioned. The key outcome of this research will be efficientseparation of Tritiated water from the decommissioned heavy water moderator. Efficient filtration has thepotential to make safe storage much easier, and in addition to i) provide separated tritium and heavy water forsubsequent sale; ii) position Canada well to lead the global marketplace for de-commissioning of reactors thatwill be emerging internationally over the next few decades. HQP will gain experience in advanced chemicalfiltration techniques that are also applicable to, e.g. desalination of water.