Grant: Engage Plus Grants Program

This project, which will build on the results of a previous NSERC Engage project executed by the researchteam, will focus on the development of membranes derived from chemically-modified graphene for thepurification of industrial waste water. The need for improved purification methods, specifically those thattarget the removal of potentially toxic and harmful transition metal contaminants, has never been greater.Large-scale industrial processes, for example, hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and the extraction of bituminoussands, are generating immense quantities of contaminated water within Canada's borders. The research enabledby this grant will look at the transformation of graphitic particles into graphene via shear exfoliation. Theexfoliated graphene, which may be prepared in a scalable fashion, will be chemically modified and transformedinto membranes with tunable porosities. This work will help 3M Canada design a new line of waterpurification membranes for distribution to the Canadian and global markets, where different membranes (withvarying porosity) will be incorporated into products depending on the contaminants present in the variousindustrial waste water streams. The proposed research will occur at the University of Western Ontario (WesternUniversity) and within the laboratories of 3M Canada in London, Ontario.