Interfacial flows enabled by phoretic and osmotic mechanisms across porous membranes are paramount in several biological situations and engineering applications. From water regulation through the lipidic membranes of biological cells to the displacement of nanoporous devices for targeted drug delivery, passing by membrane-based osmotic power generation, the modeling of membrane flows faces the challenge of simultaneously describing mass transport at the pore and membrane scales. In the present seminar, we will show how a homogenization-based methodology can link these two scales and efficiently predict filtration flows through thin porous membranes. 

Although the starting hypothesis for the application of homogenization is the validity of the continuum Stokes and Smolouchovsky equations that describe the transport of solvent and solutes within pores, as a perspective, we will discuss the possibility of replacing the continuum description by a molecular approach.