Evaluation of silicon membranes for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO).

While extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is a valuable therapy for patients with lung or heart failure, clinical use of ECMO remains limited due to hemocompatibility concerns with pro-coagulatory hollow fiber membrane geometries. Previously, we demonstrated the feasibility of silicon nanopore (SNM) and micropore (SμM) membranes for transport between two liquid-phase compartments in blood-contacting devices. Herein, we investigate various pore sizes of SNM and SμM membranes - alone or with a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) protective coating - for parameters that determine suitability for gas exchange.

Slit pores preferred over cylindrical pores for high selectivity in biomolecular filtration.

Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) have enabled the fabrication of silicon nanopore membranes (SNM) with uniform non-overlapping "slit shaped" pores. The application of SNM has been suggested for high selectivity of biomolecules in a variety of medical filtration applications. The aim of this study was to rigorously quantify the differences in sieving between slit pore SNM and more commonly modeled cylindrical pore membranes, including effects of the extended Derjaguin, Landau, Verwey, and Overbeek (XDLVO) interactions.

Silicon nanoporous membranes as a rigorous platform for validation of biomolecular transport models.

Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), a technology that resulted from significant innovation in semiconductor fabrication, have recently been applied to the development of silicon nanopore membranes (SNM). In contrast to membranes fabricated from polymeric materials, SNM exhibit slit-shaped pores, monodisperse pore size, constant surface porosity, zero pore overlap, and sub-micron thickness. This development in membrane fabrication is applied herein for the validation of the XDLVO (extended Derjaguin, Landau, Verwey, and Overbeek) theory of membrane transport within the context of hemofiltration.

Thermodynamic analysis of osmotic energy recovery at a reverse osmosis desalination plant.

Recent years have seen a substantial reduction of the specific energy consumption (SEC) in seawater reverse osmosis (RO) desalination due to improvements made in hydraulic energy recovery (HER) as well as RO membranes and related process technologies. Theoretically, significant potential for further reduction in energy consumption may lie in harvesting the high chemical potential contained in RO concentrate using salinity gradient power technologies. Herein, "osmotic energy recovery" (OER) is evaluated in a seawater RO plant that includes state-of-the-art RO membranes, plant designs, operating conditions, and HER technology.