Ranil Wickramasinghe

Prof Wickramasinghe’s research interests are in membrane science and technology. His research focuses on synthetic membrane-based separation processes for purification of pharmaceuticals and biopharmaceuticals, treatment and reuse of water and for the production of biofuels. Typical unit operations include: microfiltration, ultrafiltration, virus filtration, nanofiltration, membrane extraction, membrane distillation etc. A current research focus is surface modification of membranes in order to impart unique surface properties. His group is actively developing responsive membranes. These membranes change their physical properties in response to changed environmental conditions. A second research focus is the development of catalytic membranes for biomass hydrolysis by grafting catalytic groups to the membrane surface.