Aston University to set up research team to boost water purification membranes

Birmingham’s Aston University is to establish a cross-disciplinary institute to develop novel biomimetic membranes, after receiving a grant of £10m from Research England. the Aston Institute for Membrane Excellence (AIME), 

The AIME team will focus on the development of biologically-inspired, highly selective polymer structures for applications that include water purification and waste remediation. Other applications include nanoparticles loaded with therapeutic molecules to treat disorders ranging from chronic wounds to neurological injuries; and the purification of individual membrane proteins with polymers to study them as drug targets.

The Aston Institute for Membrane Excellence (AIME) will be led by Professor Roslyn Bill, from the School of Biosciences, with co-lead Professor Paul Topham from the department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry.

The team behind AIME has claimed that the full potential of membranes will only be realised by an interdisciplinary group spanning biology, physics and chemistry that can investigate membranes holistically.

Professor Bill, leads Aston Membrane Proteins and Lipids research centre that studies the structure and function of membrane proteins and associated lipids. Professor Topham leads Aston Polymer Research Group which inc luges studies of polymer technologies for membranes. 

In December 2023, a team led by AIME team-member, Dr Derry received £166,000 from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council to develop biomimetic membranes for water purification.