The Materials Engineering Research Facility (MERF) is a 28,000 sq. ft. research facility equipped with state-of-the-art instrumentation. Currently, it employs 40 researchers, engineers, and supporting technicians with all key staff having an extensive industrial background. It is a vital component of Argonne’s Materials Manufacturing Innovation Center (MMIC) to accelerate scalable materials synthesis and process development and scale up.
MMIC focuses on a scientific approach to process innovation, combining innovative synthesis and processing technologies at the MERF, high-resolution, in situ characterization at the Advanced Photon Source, and advanced computing and artificial intelligence at the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility in a virtuous cycle that reduces trial-and-error and enables fast go/no-go decisions on the commercial viability of the R&D projects.
Advanced materials are key for the development of more efficient and cost-effective separations. Although adsorption, electrochemical, and pressure-driven membrane processes are employed at the commercial scale, the performance of these materials is often dictated by microstructure and composition. ANL researchers use advanced microscopy and spectroscopy to inform material design, confirm quality, predict macroscopic behavior, and understand the failure of materials as well as focus on advanced material design and development of materials with specific properties and functionalities tailored to separation applications.