March 16

6:30 pm

Reception

Day 1: March 17

8:40 – 9:00 am

Opening Remarks (Pedro Alvarez, Menachem Elimelech)

Morning Session: Models and Macroscopic Phenomena (Chairs: Qilin Li, Mihail Barboiu)

9:00 – 9:40

Maarten Biesheuvel, Wetsus, The Netherlands

• Transport of ions and solvent in charged porous membranes: From Nernst and Planck and Teorell to Ora Kedem and to the present day.

9:40 – 10:20

Shihong Lin, Vanderbilt University, USA

• Mainstream models for ion transport in reverse osmosis/nanofiltration membranes: Limitations and research needs

Coffee break

10:20– 10:40

10:40 – 11:20

Menachem Elimelech, Rice University, USA

• The physical basis for solvent flow in ‘dense’ polymer membranes: Separating facts from fiction.

11:20 – 12:00

Anthony Szymczyk, Université de Rennes 1, France

• Complex behavior of solvents confined in NF/RO membranes: Impact on separation performance

12:00 – 12:10

Fabio Pulizzi, Nature Water

• Update on Nature Water

Afternoon Session: Molecular and Nano-Scale Behavior (Chairs: Shihong Lin, Chong Liu)

1:30 – 2:10

Lydéric Bocquet, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris

• Nanofluidic transport: From the cabinet of curiosities to the scale-up challenge

2:10 – 2:50

Radha Boya, University of Manchester, UK

• Two-dimensional angstrom-scale channels: Intriguing molecular and ionic transport

2:50 – 3:20

Alex Noy, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, USA

• Alex Noy, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, USA
  Beyond the neutral wall approximation: Polarization interactions and molecular transport in carbon nanotube channels

Coffee break

3:20 – 3:40

3:40 – 4:20

Ying Li, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA

• Molecular insights into water and ion transport across polyamide membranes: Solution-diffusion or pore-flow mechanism?

4:20 – 5:00

Dietmar Schwahn, Jülich Centre for Neutron Science, Germany

• Micropore structure of reverse osmosis membranes: Operando studies with small-angle neutron scattering and positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy

Heavy hors d'oeuvres / mixer

6:30 pm

Day 2: March 18

Morning Session: Ion Transport Role of Molecular Interactions (Chairs: Radha Boya, Maarten Biesheuvel)

8:40 – 9:20 am

Mihail Barboiu, CNRS, Paris, France

• Water permeation through multivalent artificial water channels: Mechanisms and role of H-bonding.

9:20 – 10:00

Kumar Varoon Agrawal, EPFL, Switzerland

• Highly selective ion-ion transport across zero-dimensional pores: Mechanisms and implications for membrane design

Coffee break

10:00 – 10:30

10:30 – 11:10

Qilin Li, Rice University, USA

• Ion transport through composite ion exchange membranes: The role of selective binding sites

11:10 – 11:50

Chong Liu, University of Chicago, USA

• Transport in functionalized angstrom-scale two-dimensional channels: Cation-cation and cation-anion interplay.

Lunch

12:00 – 1:15 pm

1:15 – 4:45

Afternoon: Breakout rooms for drafting the key findings, conclusions, and outline for the Perspective article