MemLab
A newly established research laboratory with the Intelligent Water Group at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences.
We focus our research at the intersection between membrane science, data science, and water and environmental engineering.
We join the global marathon to solve major challenges in membrane science and engineering:
  • Low selectivity of membrane processes
  • Trade-off between membrane permeability and selectivity
  • Rudimentary understanding of membrane separation mechanisms
  • Suboptimal membrane module design caused by knowledge gaps in module fluid mechanics
We aim to support the development of solutions that tackle climate change impacts, meet the tightening water and wastewater treatment legislation, remove micropollutants from the water cycle, prevent industrial pollution and promote responsible consumption and production.

Electromembrane processes
Fine ion separations due to superposition of electroosmosis and ion concentration polarisation

Electrochemical oxidation of organofluoride micropollutants in membrane reactors
Nanofiltration
Transport characterisation of nanofiltration membranes quantitatively corrected for concentration polarisation

Cognitive analytics of nanofiltration of natural organic matter
Sustainable membranes
Data-driven control of pressure- and gravity-driven membrane systems

Exploration of nature-derived polymers
Current projects
Applied research takes a keyring and picks the key that best fits a particular lock. Fundamental science is more like forging entirely new kinds of keys – crafting shapes never seen before. MemLab is curious about both, balancing our project portfolio among high-risk – high-gain and incremental development project
  • TIES
    Tunable ion separations with micro-structured composite membranes
    2025-2029, The Research Council of Norway
  • IntelMem
    Intelligent membrane systems for reserve water supply 2021-2025, Norwegian Institute of Public Health
  • MemCentre
    Membrane centre for sustainable water
    Infrastructure project under development, The Research Council of Norway
  • AECo
    Advancing electrochemical processes for water safety and circularity
    2020-2025, The Research Council of Norway
Researchers
  • Zakhar Maletskyi
    Associate professor, principal investigator
    Electromembrane processes, nanofiltration
  • Agnieszka Cuprys
    Researcher, research coordinator
    Nature-derived polymers for sustainable membranes
  • Harsha Ratnaweera
    Professor
    Phase separation in membrane synthesis and applications
  • Kristian Liland
    Professor
    Data science
  • Bardia Roghani
    Postdoctoral fellow
    AI-driven nanofiltration for green infrastructures
  • Charuka Meegoda
    Researcher
    Data-driven control of membrane processes
Active research partnerships
Industrial partners
Research techniques and infrastructure
  • Electrokinetic analysis of solid surfaces
    Zeta potential analysis of macroscopic solids, isoelectric point, liquid-on-solid adsorption kinetics.
    Instrument: Anton Paar SurPASS 3 with measurement cells – adjustable gap, ceramic membrane, hollow fiber membrane
  • Capillary flow gas-liquid porometry and gas/liquid permeability
    Pressure step stability method with multistage pressure process. Instrument: Porolux Revo porometer with measurement cells – flat sheet disks, hollow fiber
  • Cross-flow membrane filtration
    Instrument: Sterlitech benchtop cross-flow filtration system with data logging kit and CF042 cells in acryl, PTFE, acetal, and die
  • Intrinsic rejections of various solutes
    Instrument: rotating membrane test cell with an equally-accessible surface of flat-sheet membrane
  • Electrochemical tests
    Galvanostatic and potentionstatic modes, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy.
    Instrument: BioLogic VSP-3e potentiostat with eight channels (+/- 1A expandable up to 800A) and built-in EIS.
  • Imaging
    TEM, SEM, EDS, stereomicroscopy, CLSM, light microscopy (collective use facility)
  • Water analysis
    Elemental analysis by ICP-MS (instrument: Agilent 8800 ICP-QQQ); absorbance, transmittance, and fluorescence excitation-emission-matrix (EEMs) acquisition (instrument: Horiba Aqualog); UV-VIS spectroscopy (various instruments); discrete spectrophotometry (instrument: Systea EasyChem); real-time UV-VIS spectroscopy (instrument: s::can spectrolyser); Total Oxygen Demand (instrument: LAR TOD); Chemical Oxygen Demand by UV-AOP (instrument: MANTECH PeCOD)
  • Particle analysis
    Zeta potential and electrophoretic mobility of particles by laser Doppler micro-electrophoresis (instrument: Malvern Zetasizer Z); particle charge analysis by streaming current method (instrument: Micrometrix PCA); particle-by-particle analysis by tunable resistive pulse sensing (instrument: Izon qNano)
  • Data driven and simulations
    Exploratory data analysis (PCA, MCR, cluster analysis). Quantitative regression techniques (MLR, PCR, PLSR, L-PLSR, SVM). Supervised classification techniques (SVM, PLS-DA, SIMCA, LDA). Artificial neural networks. Chemometrics in spectroscopy.
    Single-physics, multiphysics, and surrogate modelling.
    Software: Python, MATLAB, Unscrambler, COMSOL Multiphysics, StatEase DesignExpert, OriginLab, Orange Canvas.

  • Pilot trials
    We have several mobile and stationary membrane pilot units with different types of membrane elements
Contact
Acknowledgement
We acknowledge funding granted to our lab by The Research Council of Norway, Norwegian Publich Health Administration, DAAD, European Commission, and NMBU initiatives for Young Talents and Strategic Infrastructure