Separating contaminants from water, waste, and air in theatre requires the deployment of next generation membrane materials where legacy solutions (e.g., distillation) cannot be implemented

The Department of the Interior Departmental Offices Interior Business Center awarded a $178,043 cooperative agreement to Montana State University on September 1, 2026, to develop computational tools for identifying biomimetic metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) for threat-responsive water, waste, and air separation in theatre environments. The research aims to accelerate discovery of next-generation membrane materials by enabling rapid computational comparison of candidate MOFs against enzyme and protein structures, addressing deployment scenarios where legacy separation methods such as distillation cannot be implemented. The award funds work under the Research and Technology Development program (CFDA 12.910), which supports basic, applied, and advanced research with potential military or dual-use application at educational institutions and nonprofit organizations. Performance occurs in Bozeman, Montana, with an ultimate completion date of August 31, 2028.

In this design space, metal-organic frameworks (mofs) are an attractive material class that can be tailored to the desired separation. However, the very diversity that makes mofs appealing also hampers their rational selection. The goal of the proposed research is to develop a tool that allows identification of biomimetic mofs through computational comparison with enzymes/proteins. This concept culminates in the rapid discovery of threat-responsive, biomimetic separation materials.