Membrane Laboratory
Norwegian University of Life Sciences
About
Membrane Laboratory at NMBU advances artificial membranes and separation processes to secure clean water and sustainable Critical Raw Materials.
Mechanistic understanding of membrane transport
Trade-off between selectivity and productivity of artificial membranes and separation processes
Optimal design of membrane modules and systems
We develop membrane‑based solutions that mitigate the impacts of climate change, help meet increasingly stringent water and environmental regulations, and enable the sustainable supply of Critical Raw Materials.
Membrane Laboratory conducts research at the intersection of Interface and Colloid Science, Separation Process Engineering, and Data Science.
Membrane Laboratory focuses on:
Research Areas
Research at the Membrane Laboratory uses machine learning to integrate physical models, numerical simulations, and experimental data, advancing the design of artificial membranes and separation processes.
Electromembrane processes
Diafiltration of ions of critical metals
Physicochemical hydrodynamics of multi-ion membrane transport
Osmotically-driven membrane processes
Cognitive analytics of membrane filtration performance
Electrophoretic separation in composite membranes
Electrochemical oxidation of organofluorine compounds in membrane reactors
Sustainable membranes
Membrane transport
Projects
see previous projects
Infrastructure project under development
MemCentre
Membrane centre for sustainable water
2021 - 2027, FHI
Intelligent membrane systems for reserve water supply
IntelMem
2020 - 2025, RCN
AECo
Advancing electrochemical processes for water safety and circularity
2025 - 2029, RCN
Tunable ion separations with micro-structured composite membranes
TIES
2015 - 2018, RCN-Innovation Norway
CE-MBR
Development of chemically enhanced membrane biological reactor
HumusTek
New technology for purification of NOM-containing water for reserve water supply
2016 - 2018, RCN
2017 - 2024, RCN
International partnership on membrane processes in water treatment for research and educational excellence
MEMPREX
IntelMem
2020 - 2023, RCN-DAAD
Intelligent nanofiltration membrane systems for natural organic matter removal in water treatment
Researchers
The Membrane Laboratory is an interdisciplinary research team of chemical and environmental engineers, data scientists, and separation process engineers.
Research students and fellows
The Membrane Laboratory cultivates the next generation of membrane technology professionals by training doctoral and master’s students and hosting visiting researchers and exchange students through the Water Harmony network.
Doctorate students
Alumni
Fanjing Meng
Electrochemical oxidation of organofluoride micropollutants in membrane reactors
2022 - 2026
Cognitive analytics of gravity- and pressure-driven membrane separation
Anura Arembage
2024 - 2028
Alumni
Hermann Krüger
Best thesis award 2025 by RIF
Transport characterisation of flat-sheet membranes for control of nanofiltration processes
Oda Rydland & Stine Simonsen
2025
Opportunities, challenges, and operating cost of water treatment technology implementation for water supply in small communities
Odin Seljestokken
Bipolar capacitive deionisation on carbonised nanoporous monoliths
2025
Amalie Brønmo
Effect-based assessment of by-products of electrocatalytic oxidation of PFAS
2025
Master's students
Philip Lein
2022
Electrochemical oxidation and UV-VIS quantification of per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) for wastewater treatment
2017
Dawit Zigta
Testing Aluminium based chemicals for fouling reduction in membrane bioreactor
Vladyslav Shostak
Comparison of treatment and fouling mitigation efficiency of organic and inorganic coagulants in biofilm membrane bioreactor
2019
Anura Arembage
Operational Optimisation of Biofilm Membrane BioReactor (BMBR) for decentralised wastewater treatment
2018
Lars Rumohr Blingsmo and Leon Dokland
Advanced coagulation and membrane filtration treatment of effluent from high-rate MBBR
2019
Gorm Walter Høili Pettersen
Nanofiltration of surface water with high organic content, focusing on reserve water supply in Halden municipality
2019
Jothy Sathananthan & Jenny Gustavsen
Opportunities for water reuse by implementing MBR in Norway
2024, industrial economy
Roman Kuzhel & Anastasiia Nehrii
Effects of electrochemical treatment of mixed liquor in submerged ceramic membrane bioreactor
2019
Asim Rasheed
2024
Data-driven strategies for managing natural organic matter in water supply
Alumni
Fernanda Gaioto
Transport characterisation of nanofiltration membranes
Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2025-2026
Visiting Researchers and Exchange Students
Passive membrane technologies
University of British Columbia, Canada
Pierre Bérubé
Modelling the dynamics of electrolytes in porous electrodes
Norwegian University of Life Sciences
Theory of Electrochemical Systems group
Research cluster at the University of Calgary, Canada
Norwegian Partnership
“Membrane Centre for Sustainable Water”
“Membrane Centre for Sustainable Water”
Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), The Foundation for Industrial and Technical Research (SINTEF), Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA), Research Institute AquaTeam COWI, National Centre for Water Infrastructure (Vannsenteret)
Behaviour of fluids at nano-scale, ion transport through nanofiltration membranes, current-induced concentration polarisation of nano-/micro-interfaces
ICREA/Polytechnic University of Catalonia, Spain
Andriy Yaroshchuk
Partners
Industrial partners
See full list
Contact angle and drop shape analysis
Instrument: OCA 15EC
Cross-flow membrane filtration
in various membrane test cells.
Instrument: Sterlitech benchtop cross-flow filtration system with data logging kit and CF042 cells in acryl, PTFE, acetal, and die.
Instrument: Sterlitech benchtop cross-flow filtration system with data logging kit and CF042 cells in acryl, PTFE, acetal, and die.
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.
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.
Instrument: Anton Paar SurPASS 3 with measurement cells – adjustable gap, ceramic membrane, hollow fiber membrane.
Experimental
Research infrastructure
The Membrane Laboratory’s research infrastructure supports advanced experimentation and fosters interdisciplinary collaboration in membrane technology.
Intrinsic rejections of various solutes
Instrument: rotating membrane test cell with an equally-accessible surface of flat-sheet membrane.
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.
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.
Imaging techniques
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 and discrete spectrophotometry
Various instruments
Ion chromatography
Instrument: Methrom
Real-time UV-VIS spectroscopy
Instrument: s::can spectrolyser
Total Oxygen Demand
Instrument: LAR TOD
Chemical Oxygen Demand by UV-AOP
Instrument: MANTECH PeCOD
Instrument: Agilent 8800 ICP-QQQ.
Absorbance, transmittance, and fluorescence excitation-emission-matrix (EEMs) acquisition
Instrument: Horiba Aqualog.
UV-VIS spectroscopy and discrete spectrophotometry
Various instruments
Ion chromatography
Instrument: Methrom
Real-time UV-VIS spectroscopy
Instrument: s::can spectrolyser
Total Oxygen Demand
Instrument: LAR TOD
Chemical Oxygen Demand by UV-AOP
Instrument: MANTECH PeCOD
Electrochemical tests
Voltamperometric techniques, Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy, pulsed techniques, stack experiments, corrosion techniques, ohmic drop determination.
Instrument: BioLogic VSP-3e potentiostat/galvanostat with eight channels (+/- 1A expandable up to 800A) and built-in electrochemical impedance spectroscopy.
Instrument: BioLogic VSP-3e potentiostat/galvanostat with eight channels (+/- 1A expandable up to 800A) and built-in electrochemical impedance spectroscopy.
Exploratory data analysis
Quantitative regression techniques
Supervised classification techniques
Artificial neural networks
Chemometrics in spectroscopy
Numerical simulations: single-physics, multiphysics, and surrogate modelling
Software: Python, MATLAB, Unscrambler, COMSOL Multiphysics, StatEase DesignExpert, OriginLab, Orange Canvas
Quantitative regression techniques
Supervised classification techniques
Artificial neural networks
Chemometrics in spectroscopy
Numerical simulations: single-physics, multiphysics, and surrogate modelling
Software: Python, MATLAB, Unscrambler, COMSOL Multiphysics, StatEase DesignExpert, OriginLab, Orange Canvas
Data driven & simulations
Research students
Mentorship of MSc students
PhD candidates
Researchers
Opportunities
The Membrane Laboratory supports the professional development of researchers and research students.
Contact