Robert Gloukhovski

Dr. Gabriel Rubanenko, Prize for Excellence in Research, 2006

Department of Environmental Hydrology and Microbiology
Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research
Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

My name is Robert Gloukhovski. I was born in Chi?in?u, Moldova in January, 1975 and immigrated to Israel in December, 1991 with my parents. Since then I has been living in Beer-Sheva, there I graduated from high school and continued my studies towards the degree of Practical Engineer in Electronics.
In the year 2000, after completing my military service as a technician in Israeli Defense Forces, I started my undergraduate studies in Biotechnology Engineering at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and graduated with honors in 2004. During this period I developed a clear interest in Environmental Biotechnology and issues concerning water treatment. For this reason, when continuing my education towards the degree of M.Sc. in Biotechnology Engineering I performed my scientific study in the laboratories of Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research.
I believe that the knowledge gained from courses and academic research must be supported by practical experience from work in the industrial field. For this reason, after completing the degree in January, 2007 I move to Haifa to look for a job in one of the numerous chemistry and biotechnology companies located in that region.

Description of research:

Preparation of Nanofiltration Membranes by Electropolymerization

Supervisors: Dr. Viatcheslav Freger, Prof. Yoram Oren

Polyamide composite membranes are comprised of an asymmetrically porous support made of polysulfone on top of which a thin selective polyamide layer is synthesized by interfacial polymerization (IP). These membranes are widely used in RO/NF applications and show excellent combination of high salt rejection and good water permeability. However, polyamide has several disadvantages such as low tolerance to chlorine, which precludes the use of chlorine as disinfectant and cleaning agent and results in biofouling thus reducing performance and shortening membrane lifetime, or insufficient rejection for some important water contaminants. This motivates the search for new approaches for preparation of thin-film composite membranes.
Our work describes a novel method for preparing RO/NF type composite membranes according to which the selective layer is synthesized by means of electrochemical polymerization (EP) rather than by IP. To suit this task, the asymmetrically porous support was rendered electronically conductive with carbon black nanoparticles uniformly dispersed in the support polymeric matrix. The composite membranes made with EP-deposited selective polyaniline layer demonstrated water flux and rejection to sucrose and magnesium sulfate in nanofiltration range. Though the first prepared EP-made composites are inferior to the best IP-based industrial membranes, our approach is potentially promising, since it allows much higher flexibility in control of the polymerization process parameters, as well as a wider range of monomer types that can be applied, as compared to IP, and therefore might overcome the limitations of currently used IP-made membranes.