Presented by Greg Newbloom
Recap by guest-contributor Linnette Teo, University of Washington
Membrion’s key technology is in creating ion exchange membranes from inexpensive and widely available silica gel. Their membrane technology can be used for a variety of applications from batteries, to fuel cells, to water purification. Membranes typically work based solely on charge separation. However, Membrion is able to produce highly engineered membrane structure – for example tune the porosity – which allows for separation based on ion size, charge, and structure. With their flexible ceramic membrane technology, not only is Membrion able to achieve improved performance over typical polymer membranes in the market, they are also able to manufacture them at an eighth of the cost of competitors using tank-based processing techniques.