Dr. Anita Buekenhoudt and Bart Coen (A-membranes, a new spinoff from the University of Antwerp and Vito NV) will hold a seminar on chemical affinity filtration, 28 February 2022, 14:00–15:00 CET. The one-hour seminar entitled “Chemical affinity filtration: benefits of the organic functionalization of ceramic membranes” will include a question and answer session.

Ceramic membranes are widely used for industrial filtration because they are very robust. The versatility of such membranes can be increased by grafting organic molecules onto the ceramic surface, which changes the properties of the membrane and allows the selective passage of target molecules while repelling others that might otherwise accumulate and block the pores. In the context of the InnCoCells project, such membranes are useful for the selective filtration of plant extracts to recover and concentrate particular ingredients.

Dr. Anita Buekenhoudt is a project manager and leader of the Membranes in Chemistry team at Vito, a Flemish research organization. She works with her team to develop innovative functionalized ceramic membranes that are commercialized by A-membranes. Bart Coen is the CEO of A-membranes, which he founded in December 2021, and now focuses on the industrial upscaling of functionalized ceramic membranes and on the development of new business opportunities for the company.