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Bill Mickols, senior research scientist for Dow Water & Process Solutions, has been selected by the American Chemical Society (ACS) as a co-recipient for the 2009 Heroes of Chemistry Award. Mickols shares this recognition with his former colleague, John Cadotte, who was the founder of FilmTec Corporation. Cadotte is being recognized posthumously.
Mickols' scientific contributions to reverse osmosis for desalination pushed the envelope of water flux and salt rejection to levels once considered impossible. These innovations have delivered a two- to five-time increase in flux and productivity over previous membrane systems, while maintaining similar salt rejection performance. His energy-saving reverse osmosis membranes are helping to provide fresh, clean water around the world, and his products have actually saved lives in regional emergencies, such as Hurricane Katrina.
The foundation technology for these advances is the thin film composite reverse osmosis membrane invented by John Cadotte in the 1970s. Cadotte used interfacial polymerization to generate an ultra thin, pinhole-free, aromatic polyamide membrane layer on a micro-porous support. This layer permeates water, but rejects ionic species and modest-sized neutral molecules. Since water permeability is inversely proportional to the thickness of this layer, it is desirable to produce the thinnest defect-free layer possible.
Mickols' pioneering research involved a comprehensive study of the interaction of the process chemistry variables of the Cadotte reaction system. His work demonstrated that the kinetics of the interfacial polymerization could be altered in controllable ways and the packing density of the final polyamide polymer could be changed significantly. Mickols' discoveries applied to Cadotte's system enabled the increases in water permeability along with high rejection.
The awards were presented at the ACS black tie event in Washington, D.C., on Sunday, August 16. Since 1996, the ACS Heroes of Chemistry program has recognized chemical scientists whose work in various fields of chemistry and chemical engineering has led to the successful innovation and development of commercial products based on chemistry. The Heroes of Chemistry program highlights the vital role of industrial chemical scientists and their companies in improving human welfare through successful commercial innovations and products. It presents an ideal opportunity to enhance the public image of the chemical and allied industries.
